Vengeance for Two
by Xun Uchida
Summary: Being Re-written.
1. 1 Request

Vengeance for Two.

[SasuHina

Disclaimer : I obviously do not own Naruto or anything associated with it besides this fan fiction.

Summary: After the Third Lord Hokage's death, Sasuke began to truly realize the suffering around him, and felt his own needs slowly disappear... Someone confronts him on the night of his leave... to find and kill --Orochimaru: The Giant Snake!

1.Request

Three weeks, only three miserable weeks since the attack on Konohagakure. Sorrow was evident, you could practically see it floating around you in the air. Everyone tried their best to keep a cheery face and only a rare few could hold the illusion of content in place. The weather did not add to the mood, always cloudy and semi-dark, only a few spots where the sun really broke through to harrass specially selected portions of a few shattered streets, the rain never actually broke through though.

Uchiha Sasuke could tell the difference it made in his comrades. Everyone had tried to grieve on their own time, but every now and then Sakura let a tear escape or Naruto zoned out, though it didn't stop them from being a pair of loudmouths whenever something mildly interesting happened. Sasuke stepped out of the Uchiha complex, its dark halls and empty streets seemed to almost be haunted with the dark atmosphere of the Uchiha Massacre coupling with the Lord Third's death. He was glad to get away, it made him want to gag.

He was just on his way to the other side of Konohagakure, the Hyuuga estate to be more precise. Hinata Hyuuga had passed him a message through one of the Hyuuga messengers ; a request that he come see her because she had something to ask of him. '_Probably something concerning the village idiot._' he thought of Uzumaki Naruto, and his almost unbelievable density towards the Hyuuga heiress and her obvious affection for him, indeed, he had lost count of all the times he mentally slapped his forehead at his comrade's stupidity in her presence.

Sasuke glanced to the left at a nearby tea shop that had its entire roof and part of its west wall blown off, construction workers scurried around the ruin with blueprints and hefted lumber and bricks. A glance to the right made him take in another similar sight, this time an orphanage, almost completely ruined, the only part undamaged was ironically the front door. Apparently the second level caved in, making the other 2 levels fall a notch and completely destroy the one below it, the first level was wider then the others, and thus survived barely.

Another 10 minutes of walking and taking in the effects of war, he arrived in front of the Hyuuga estate. Sasuke raised his hand to knock when it suddenly opened right in front of him. Hinata stood before him, and managed to release the Byakugan just right before she opened the door. Having waited for about 20 minutes longer then necessary, she had gotten fidgety and slightly irritated, although she did not show it. Maybe his Kakashi-sensei's lack of punctuality was beginning to influence the young Avenger.

"U-Uh, h-hello Sasuke-san." she stammered, slightly red in the cheeks. Sasuke replied with his usual 'Hn' and patiently waited to hear the reason of his summoning with his hands stuffed down his pockets. So, just how was she going to ask him this? Hinata twiddled with her fingers, a bad habit that most people seemed to adore in the Hyuuga girl. There was no way she could just tell him 'Never mind' after dragging him halfway across the village, for HER personal reasons no less.

There was no way around it, she leaned forward slightly in preparation to let it all out in a small burst. "S-S-Sasuke-san, I know this is abrupt, but I request y-your assistance in training!" her hands hand clutched into fists before her chest and the heat levels in her cheeks were skyrocketing. It was insane, to ask someone you barely knew to train you for no feasible reason whatsoever, but thinking back to Team 8 and Kurenai-sensei, they helped a lot, but it wasn't enough, her father refused to train her, Neji still held onto his grudge, though a lot more loosely, the InoShikaCho combo was too busy training themselves, and Naruto… well… he was simply being Naruto, added with the fact that she would never be able to flat out ask something like that without falling over halfway through the first sentence.

Sasuke examined her coolly with an eye of expertise, she couldn't have found a better time to lay this one on him. With all the reconstruction efforts, and lack of a Hokage, missions were at an all time low, Team 7 didn't train nearly as much as he wished, and best of all, it gave him an excuse to stay away from the Uchiha complex for just a few more hours. Hinata turned another shade of red under his intense scrutiny and about another 10 seconds later he replied "Sure… Meet me at Training Ground No.3 by 2:00 p.m."

Hinata didn't expect him to actually accept her request, the look of surprise registered on her face, and was quickly discarded as she smiled, a very small one, and bowed repeatedly, saying "Thank you, Sasuke-san!" over and over again before disappearing back into the Hyuuga estate. "Hn" was all Sasuke had said, keeping his stoic face the entire time. Sasuke judged the time gap between when he woke and came over, it must have been right around 9:30, which meant he had to meet Team 7 in 30 minutes and train for about 2 hours. Afterwards he would probably skip lunch with his team and pick up something small to save time, probably get chased by his fan girls (and guys) for about half an hour, and when he had made sure he lost them all, he would finally go towards Training Ground No.3 to burn the rest of the time training solo.

Sasuke turned to go meet his team at Ichiraku… 'This is going to turn into a long day…' he mused.

A/N : A little short maybe…? R&R please, I need something to work with, and ill update ASAP.

Very first story too, so show a little mercy…


	2. 2 Train Me!

Vengeance for Two

Disclaimer - Don't own Naruto or anything (besides this fanfic) that is associated with it.

You will probably find some people are OOC

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2.Train Me!

Sasuke stepped into Training Ground No.3 just as a light sprinkle of rain finally came from the clouds so high above. '_I'm right on time, but is she?_' taking a little look around, Sasuke spotted Hinata sitting underneath a large oak tree on a hill that seemed to overlook the majority of the training ground, turning her head back and forth periodically '_like a camera_' searching for him, he thought.

Sasuke smirked at the thought of resemblance and walked over to her, slowly with his hands stuffed into his pockets as usual. Hinata blushed and smiled shyly as he approached, his unmasked gaze lingering on her as she sat waiting for him in the shadowed grass of the tree trunk. "H-hello, Uchiha-san." she stuttered out, although it seemed a little easier for her to speak to him than usual, after all, why be afraid of someone if they were willing to pull a favor for you with seemingly no demands of repayment? Sasuke nodded as to acknowledge her presence and stood next to her, just leaning against the tree.

Hinata wondered what he was thinking, he didn't seem to find her request odd at all, as a matter of fact, when she left him earlier, he seemed almost glad that she brought it up. Sasuke continued to stand there, unknowingly already passing his first lesson onto Hinata '_although it is one she probably already knows' _he thought. They waited, Hinata sat next to him while he stood and both simply watched the sky for about an hour before he finally broke the silence. "It looks like you already have patience on your belt." he said, keeping his voice and facial features as stoic as he possibly could. "U-umm h-hai S-S-Sasuke-san, it w-was one of the f-f-first things that Kurenai-s-sensei taught us!" was her reply, it was kind of irritating, having her stutter so much when it was hardly necessary. He fought down an unnecessary scowl and kept his annoyance from entering his face as he told her "You shouldn't stutter so much, it makes people think you're scared, and when they think you're scared-" he looked down and met her lavender eyes with his coal ones "-they try to take advantage of you." he finished. Sasuke walked down the hill to a flat grassy area at the base of the hill, motioning for the Hyuuga heiress to follow behind him. Then they began, it first started out with higher level shuriken and kunai techniques, than switched over to practicing the Taijutsu physical arts, it was there that Uchiha Sasuke found out just how deadly Jyuuken (Gentle fist)could be. As they laid down on the grass to rest, an idea came to his mind… '_What if…? What if we could teach each other techniques the other already has in their arsenal? It would be so much more effective than simply practicing all day long…_' It would help him get stronger, and strength was what he desperately needed, and so did she. 

Sasuke stole a glance at the panting girl laying just a meter away from him, and decided to mention it after they finished today's training, they still had an hour to burn before she finally had to go home before it got too late. Hinata was exhausted, she had never trained so hard in such a short amount of time! It was worth it though, she had decided after seeing the immediate improvement in her shuriken targeting capabilities after doing as Sasuke instructed. Before, she could probably only graze the target with several shuriken, only about 1 or 2 actually hitting somewhere near the center, but just 20 minutes of watching Sasuke throw, all shuriken managed to impact themselves reasonably close to the center, and one of them even hit a bulls-eye, which was a big deal, because Sasuke had managed to rig a moving wooden target and it was pretty small and fast, hitting it wasn't as easy as it looked. Hinata turned her head over to find Sasuke staring straight at her, not bothering to hide it in the least, she blushed and turned overto face theopposite direction once more"W-What is it…?" she asked over her shouldercuriously. " I was just thinking," he said, decidingthat maybe it was just better togo ahead and tellher now,"What if we were to teach each other techniques we already know? It would be better than doing just this."

Hinata thought for a moment. What could she teach him? All of her techniques required the Byakugan something that Sasuke clearly had no access to, but after thinking back on the many scrolls she had been forced to study, one of them mentioned the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, its huge memory capacity and ability to copy just about every technique it saw. Maybe Sasuke could become capable of Jyuuken if he memorized chakra points that she showed him while he had his Sharingan active, and maybe help him concentrate his chakra into his fingertips and palms. Sasuke would of course, have _plenty _to show her.

Hinata turned to him once more, no longer finding him staring at her, but instead he had gotten up to examine multiple targets he had strategically placed around the training ground to help her practice. She smiled quietly to herself, rarely would she ever find willing help, if he had not come around, she would have probably been issued a private instructor, someone who was ordered to help her, that didn't mean the person wanted to. Her teammates would always help her of course, but she didn't want to burden them too often, and everyone else didn't seem to have much free time going on. Hinata sat up and waited patiently for Sasuke to finish his examinations, and as he came back he nodded to her. "Not bad, you hit several bulls-eyes and nailed each and every target with at least three shuriken, including the moving ones." he stood over her and noted that she wanted to say something, due to the fact that her mouth was partially open, and moving, but nothing actually coming out. "What is it?" he said, though not unkindly, but rather slightly tired. "Um, about your idea Sasuke-san,-" he noticed she didn't stutter " I think we should give it a try."

Hinata looked up at him, blushing slightly, but with a determined expression nonetheless. Sasuke smirked and gave his trademarked 'Hn' signaling a yes. Hinata stood up and once more followed him to the center of the training ground.

For the next 6 weeks this was a routine, every day after training with their team they would do whatever reconstruction work was assigned to them, Sasuke and Hinata would embark to Training Ground No.3 to practice Weapon, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu techniques. Once they had spent about an hour on those, they began teaching each other whatever they knew, sparing absolutely nothing for the sake of getting stronger. They would only break this routine whenever a mission came up, and even then they tried to keep it as short as possible. Their relationship towards each other also began to grow along with their skills, as it was impossible to spend so much time together and not really try to get to know each other, Hinata found that he was experiencing a pain very much like hers, loneliness, although from a greatly different cause, she found herself feeling sorry for him and tried to avoid the subject instead, talking about what each other liked. It was a little difficult to get him to speak up sometimes, but she was the same way, and it was not uncommon for them to have a sudden block of silence in their conversations. A comfortable silence, that neither had any problem with, but wouldn't mind if it was broken by one of them speaking on something.

Of course… This arrangement couldn't be kept a secret forever, although neither Hinata nor Sasuke had specifically agreed to keep it a secret, they found themselves reluctant to answer truthfully when confronted with a question of where they went all afternoon by their teachers. It became quite obvious however, when on one mission Team 8 was attacked by Otonin and Hinata had baked the enemy squad leader with _Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu! _and as was expected, Kurenai-sensei was taken aback. How could Hinata have mastered Fire Style techniques without her ever knowing? This one in particular was a signature jutsu of none other than the famous Uchiha clan no less. Kakashi had the same outlook on a similar mission when he rushed to help Sasuke, only to see his opponent crumple in a heap, burn marks from where his Tenketsu was utterly decimated. Curious as to how their students managed to grasp such techniques, Kurenai and Kakashi shadowed their respective students all they way to Training Ground No.3 and what they saw, they pretty much expected, but were nonetheless still surprised to actually see ; Sasuke and Hinata.

"Well, well, well, spending some quality time with the Hyuuga heiress now are we? I guess you don't hate girls that much after all…" Kakashi smiled behind his mask as he was content simply watching fromthe tree had chosenas the unlikely pair sparred below him. Kurenai landed softly on a thick branch just beside his and after a moment of surprise on her face, she smiled, content to watch just like Kakashi and let the Genin train.

By the 7th week, Hinata and Sasuke were equals in terms of skill and strength, and the rest of the Rookie Nine had noticed their huge improvement and similarity in just about all fields combat. Everyone knew they were training together now, and it sprung a mixed reaction from rest of the Rookie Nine, but they agreed to keep their findings from the other two despite Sakura and Ino's violent urges to break them apart. They did this mainly because of the huge improvement in their moods, having someone he was actually able to talk to and compare with, Sasuke was now beginning to open up, ever so slowly to those around him, and Hinata was simply happier than she was before, even more so than when she was when she saw Naruto, which was all the more reason to keep it the way it was. Of Course… No one could afford to let the Hyuuga household realize what's going on, Hiashi, despite almost hating his daughter, still cared heavily for her impacts on clan honor.

Hinata was once more on her way to Training Ground No.3, she found herself happily humming quietly to herself all day long in anticipation of Training with Sasuke-kun (They had both given up calling each to each other with far out formalities.) for some strange reason though, something just didn't feel right, although she had been happier lately the mood around the entire village seemed to fall even further during the past few weeks. Sasuke had mentioned it during their last session and as she thought about it, she recalled that the rest of the Rookie Nine was relatively hush-hush, at least whenever she or Sasuke came around… '_Wonder why?' she thought. Hinata finally ceased humming as she came into the training ground to find Sasuke standing in the middle of the field already, which was odd since she was usually first. Then she saw that he was lugging around a lot more weight, an entire backpack to be more precise, though what it contained she didn't know, all she could tell was that it made her get a very bad feeling._

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R&R Please, im working on legnthening the chapters, so dont worry about that though. 


	3. 3 Ikimasho

A/N : Glad the first few reviews I got were positive! Ill try to update on a weekly basis, maybe a bit faster depending on how many people like it. Oh, and I have enabled anonymous reviews, didn't know I kept them locked this entire time… (If ignorance was truly a bliss, I'd be the happiest person in the world!)

I'm still figuring how the site uploads and etc. work, so forgive me if updates take a bit longer than normal.

3. Ikimasho (Let's go)

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Sasuke stood out in the open, in the center Training Ground No.3, a light sprinkle of rain was once more coming down, cooling the heated summer air that was rising around Konohagakure. Hinata saw him, standing straight and tall, and looking straight up at the sky letting the water fall onto his face and slide off of his hitai-ate leaf headband. She wouldn't have suspected anything if it hadn't been for the backpack he was lugging around on his shoulders. '_Extra training equipment?_' she thought at first, but then immediately shook the idea from her head, '_No, if he was going to bring more training equipment he would have told me._' So then… What was it?

Sasuke slowly turned to face her, eyes red with live Sharingan, two tomoe spun around each pupil as he met her puzzled eyes. "Yo…" he waved to her with two fingers and she nodded to him, "Hi Sasuke-kun… Is there something wrong?" she asked as she walked up to him. Hinata watched as he turned his head back towards the sky, debating on whether he should tell her what he was planning. In the last few weeks, the shy strange girl had become his closest friend, more so then Naruto even, and he had no doubt that she probably saw him the same way. Tonight was the night he would leave Konoha, everyone was recovering nicely, so he wouldn't have to worry about his bonds in the village, but still, Orochimaru was going to pay for everything he did… Naruto… Sakura… Lord Third… Yes, his lifelong quest for vengeance had a new objective, and it was no longer solely for him. Itachi had to wait, as much as he loathed to admit, _this_ one was far more important, more than family honor, and personal satisfaction, by doing this he would do his part to guarantee that this would never again happen to his comrades or him.

"S-S-Sasuke-kun?" Hinata was becoming nervous, she had never seen him act like this, even before they started talking to each other more often. She could sense the mental conflict raging inside his head, and that it somehow concerned her in some way. Her nervousness continued to build slowly as she took another step towards him.

Sasuke turned his entire body to face her, he had made up his mind, he was going to spill it right there and hope she would not be angry with him. This quest was a fight he took up on his own free will and because he had helped her for a long while, she deserved to know why he would have to stop training her from that point on. "Hinata-" he closed the remaining space between them, causing her to blush "I cant train you any longer." Hinata looked straight into his Sharingan, and brought her Byakugan to bear. "What, why?" she sounded sad, despite her pouting features. "I'm going away." Hinata reversed her eyes back to her normal state in her openly expressed confusion. '_What does he mean going away?_' "I'm going after Orochimaru-" she recoiled at the sound of the cursed Sannin's name "- and once I find him, I'm going to kill him so that he cant do anything to harm anyone anymore." he finished, his eyes darkened and until they were once more in their normal state as he waited for what she might say. Hinata closed her eyes and turned away from him, forcing herself to clear her mind and listen as the soft patter of the light rain around them. 

'_What am I going to do, just let him run off and probably die?_' she softly shook her head '_I know that there is no way that I can stop him, but if I were to go with him… I cant just leave Konoha behind though._' She needed time to think about this, and judging from the fact that he had already packed his things, he would end up leaving tonight, and that didn't allow much time for thinking. The two of them stood there for 10 whole minutes, Hinata with her back towards Sasuke as he continued to stare softly at the back of her head. Hinata walked away from him, every step slow and painful. He watched her go, not making a single motion to stop her and concentrated instead on keeping the hurt from emanating from his body. '_So its decided then… Maybe its for the best._' Sasuke decided to burn the remaining time practicing chakra control and reviewing the extent of knowledge he had gained about Jyuuken. '_The moment the sky darkens, I'll head for the main gates._'

4 Hours later, darkness enveloped the village, having been visited by Kakashi once and teased for some unknown reason, and questioned slightly at the presence of a backpack loaded with different items, but didn't press him for details. Sasuke decided that he had aroused no suspicion of his intentions, he mostly had packed loads of shuriken and scrolls so it looked like training material when one first opens it, and it seemed that Hinata had not told anyone of his plans. '_Maybe she really is willing to let me go._' he put up a painful smirk and proceeded to jump from roof to roof to the southern side of Konoha. The rain stopped long ago, and a cold breeze swept by him. Still slightly wet, Sasuke allowed himself to shiver a little as he dropped down the roof of the nearest building to the gate. The gate guard was dozing off, so he didn't have to knock him out like he expected. Sasuke stepped forward and was standing right underneath the arch of the gate, one footstep away from being officially outside the village, when a small hand clasped his left shoulder.

Sasuke slowly turned around, he didn't have to look to know who was there, he had grown almost too familiar with the person's presence in the past 8 weeks…

"Hinata…" he whispered. The Hyuuga heiress stood behind him, looking down at the ground, almost refusing to meet his eyes. '_Hn, so what now? Is she going to stop me?_' Sasuke turned his body to face her completely. That was when he noticed that she was carrying a backpack too. Disbelief flooded his features and his mouth hung open slightly when she raised her eyes to look at him. "You didn't think that I would allow you to run out there by yourself did I?" she whispered softly, and smiled at him. Hinata turned to look at the gate guard, and Sasuke followed her gaze.

The guard wasn't asleep, he had been knocked unconscious, and now that Sasuke had a proper angle to examine him in the moonlight, he could make out multiple ugly bruises across the poor man's face. Hinata had propped him up in a wheelchair and turned him around so that it looked like he was just sleeping should someone come out and so happen to look in his direction. Hinata turned to look at Sasuke straight in the eyes and waited for a few moments, letting him examine the guard and regain his composure, the look of disbelief didn't really suit him. Sasuke turned to look at her, he had regained his normal face, but was still shocked at what was happening. '_Is she leaving everything behind to come with me?_' 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" his coal eyes rested on lavender

**Yomichi ni ukanda suigintou no hikari**

**Namida mo nai no ni nazeka nijimitatsu yo**

**Yomichi ni hisonda boku kuroi kage**

**Nasake mo nai no ni nazeka amiably ni**

**Senaka ni mou hitotsu knamida no nioi**

**Tsuitekuru tsuitekuru**

**Tsuitekuru tsuitekuru**

**Senaka ni mou hitotsu kokoro no mayoi**

**Nigeteyuku oikakeru**

**Nigeteyuku oikosareteku**

**Hitotsu futatsu kage kasanari**

**Gusari to mune hitotsuki**

**Futatsu no kage tokeru seignior no yoru ni**

"Of course I am…" a single tear slid down her cheek

**The light of the mercury lamp that emerges in the night streets**

**Even if I don't have tears, it still somehow runs down**

**My black shadow that hides in the night streets**

**Even if I don't have any sympathy, somehow my walking pace is fast**

**On my back there's one more scent of tears**

**That follows me, that follows me**

**That follows me, that follows me**

**On my back is the single hesitation of my heart**

**That flees, that I go after**

**That flees, that goes right past me**

**One, two, the shadows combine**

**And stabs me through the heart**

**The two shadows that merge together**

**In the evening of the mercury lamp**

Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk "Hn, well then-" he turned around "Ikimasho…"

Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga left Konohagakure: The Village Hidden in Leaves.

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**Song : Suigintou no Yoru by Noriaki Sugiyama **

**A/N : Thanks for the reviews, and I'm glad you like it, heh.**


	4. 4 First Stop

A/N : Sorry about the stupid mistakes back in chapter three, especially with the Japanese song lyrics (Even though most of you probably skip them over) I mean, "amiably"? Where the hell did that come from? Curse that automatic spelling correction!

On another note… weekly updates huh? Psyche! I don't know why but I get an urge to type everyday, as ideas seem to come to mind despite whatever else I seem to be doing, giving me the urge to record it before my mind forgets. (You can imagine how this tortures me when I'm not at home.) Well, here goes:

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4. First Stop

It had been a full 3 days since leaving Konoha behind, and as was expected, they saw ANBU black operations just about everywhere they went… Which was _very _annoying for Sasuke, they couldn't spend more than an hour out in the open before diving for cover again. This combined with the fact that they couldn't light a fire at night for fear of being found and that they didn't have tents to set up, only made things worse '_Hn, those stupid morons probably think we eloped, feh!_' he thought, although it didn't stop a tint of red from entering his cheeks at the thought.

This was the fourth night out in the forest, by tomorrow afternoon they should reach the town of Tanzaku, a small but fairly rich establishment that seemed to have festivals and parties going just about every few weeks. It would make a nice reprieve from the wilderness for at least 2 days should they manage to land there in time for a festival. Hinata bent down to examine her reflection in a small lake they had stopped by '_I look really worn out…_' she thought, her hair was a little messy, and a speck of dirt or mud that she missed had ended up drying on parts of her face, though there were no bags under her eyes like she expected. After a small examination of their surroundings with the Byakugan, she declared it was safe and giggled as Sasuke groaned in relief and collapsed into a sitting position against a large rock just behind her. They had been hiding for the last 4 hours, so she didn't necessarily blame him for it. Hinata picked at the dried mud that had gathered below her chin, and splashed the cool water on her face as she watched Sasuke take their canteens for a refill. '_He looks just as bad._' she realized.

Sasuke turned sensing the pair of eyes examining him, "Is there something on my face?" he asked as he met her stare. Hinata turned and blushed and Sasuke smirked at her reaction. "Well be going in 10 minutes flat, so make sure you're ready." He said, and sat down beside her on the grassy bank. Hinata nodded slowly, as she finished cleaning off the specks of dirt on her face and neck. Despite the surprising amount of hardship that started almost immediately after they left, Hinata found herself enjoying the travel time she spent with Sasuke. It didn't matter how many times the ANBU search party came too close and they had to hide literally under a rock, bush, or in gigantic trees. It didn't matter that last night had been cold, and being unable to light a fire to warm up. She was here to help him, for the sake of everyone in the Leaf Village, whether they knew it or not, and that feeling kept her satisfied. Hinata closed her eyes and smiled to herself quietly humming, just loud enough so that Sasuke took notice, but that anyone or anything nearby wouldn't hear a thing.

Sasuke smiled, a real actual smile, just small enough so that one could see that it was there, but would think they're imagining things should it suddenly disappear. Sitting next to Hinata, watching the ripples of water on the surface of the lake, the small animals appearing along the opposite shore to take a drink, and listening to the chirping of birds, the buzzing of bees as they cultivated nectar from a nearby rosebush, and the soft voice humming right next to him. It was deceivingly peaceful, it made him want to stop, lie down, and stare at the clouds as they floated across the clear blue sky of early afternoon, just laying there, letting the Sun's brilliant rays of light wash over him, alleviating all feelings of sadness and regret. In fact, that was just what he did, despite his urges to stay alert for possible threats. Hinata smiled even more than she did before as she felt Sasuke relax next to her, he was always so tense. It was extremely rare to see him drop his guard for even a moment, in fact, Hinata didn't know how he slept at night, all by himself in the huge Uchiha complex back in Konohagakure. '_He probably set kunai spring traps all over his house_' she thought, and giggled to herself. Hinata turned to look at Sasuke and he met her eyes, making her blush and turn away once more. She blushed harder when she recalled how they spent the last few nights, it was always cold despite it nearing summer, and more then once had Hinata found herself cuddling up to a sleeping Sasuke against a rock or under a tree. 

Her thick jacket did wonders to keep her warm, but it felt strange sleeping alone out in the wilderness, although she wasn't technically alone, the dark forest made it easy to think otherwise. It surprised her even more when, once on the second night of their leave. she did it while he was still wide awake, and instead of pushing her away like she expected, he had wrapped his arm around her, evoking a sense of surprise and a blush from the both of them. Neither Sasuke nor Hinata questioned their puzzling sleeping arrangement from that point onwards.

Sasuke smirked and after letting his gaze rest on her for a few more seconds, got up using all the willpower at his disposal and went to check on their supplies. '_We wont have to worry about food in the least, we have a few left in reserve, and the forest can provide whatever we need once we run out…_' he thought, as he glanced over their meager rations. '_Its like she was expecting us to stay out here for months…_' Indeed, they had left with a lot food, and ¾ of the once huge load they had left was provided by Hinata. However, hours and hours of being on the move and avoiding patrols took its toll on their stamina levels, and eating to replenish seemed like a natural thing to do. Sasuke moved the remains of the food aside and took a look at the piles of summon scrolls, shuriken, wire, kunai, and just about every combat asset anyone could think of for a ninja. '_Hn, and all I brought was weapons…_' Sasuke took note of a small bundle of First Aid supplies (also supplied by Hinata), and a few personal belongings from each of them. "Hell of a load to be lugging around…" He whispered to himself.

Hinata had finished washing the dirt off of her facial features and was in the middle of rearranging the parts of her hair that was sticking out when she felt Sasuke's hand pat her on the head softly. "We'd better move…" he whispered, to which she nodded. "Okay, lets go." she responded and got up, taking one last look to savor the peaceful environment they were about to leave before turning to face him. Hinata smiled at him, to which she saw his eyes soften, and after a few moments of simply staring at each other, and letting Hinata build up a coat of red on her cheeks, they were once more jumping from tree to tree.

Luckily for them, the patrols started to die down, they were slowly going beyond the reach of Konohagakure's forces. Once they were in Tanzaku, they would probably only see one or two ANBU operatives looking for them. Evading them would be easy.

Hinata and Sasuke jumped from a large tree and landed near a road, there they stood in the open, the sky still blue, the air still warm, and they were still in one piece. Sasuke smirked as he saw the town below them, flashing lights here and there, and perhaps a hundred or so tents and merchant stalls. He looked at Hinata out of the corner of his eyes just in time to capture the look of happiness on her face, '_Looks like she really wants to get in there._' he thought and suppressed a laugh from surfacing as he saw her face light up and her facial features slowly betraying more and more of her feelings. Apparently shy Hinata was a bit of a party girl. He walked forward, hands in his pockets and chin held high, she followed his example, only she held her hands in front of her waist as she walked beside him. To other passerby they looked like a happy young couple, if somewhat slightly travel worn.

'_Once were inside, ill look around for rumors of Orochimaru, maybe I can pinpoint something useful.' _he turned his head to look at Hinata and she smiled in return. '_I should let her enjoy herself, and take care of the work myself, after all, she took up the trouble of coming all the way out here with me._' he nodded to her and they proceeded into the town. 

"First stop, Tanzaku town." Hinata whispered happily to him, to which he nodded

"Right, here goes." 

* * *

_A/N: Sorry I cut this one a little short, but my brain was starting to run dry. Heh_

_Oh, and I also realize that a lot of people have a tendency to skip the A/N at the beginning of a chapter (I use to do it myself!) just so you know, I may occasionally recommend a song up there that will help portray the mood of what I'm trying to write, so don't just skip over it, at least skim it a bit._

_elope : For a couple to run away for love or etc. that their peers or family dont like._

And for those who dont know, Noriaki Sugiyama, the singer of the song in CH3, is Sasuke's Japanese voice actor.


	5. 5 They're Here!

5. They're Here!

Hinata turned her head side to side and smiled in a childish manner as they proceeded past the many games, food, and souvenir stalls. Sasuke turned his head to look at her and his eyes softened when she smiled at him. "Hold your horses a little longer, once I find a reasonable inn for us to stay at, you can go do what you want." he smirked. Hinata's eyes brightened at his words and kept pace with him while humming and taking in their surroundings. After a moment she frowned though, "But what about you?" she asked, cocking her head to the right slightly while examining him. Sasuke shook his head "I have to gather information."

"Oh…" she sounded disappointed, but Sasuke couldn't figure out why. He took another glance at her "What's wrong?" he asked, and upon blushing heavily she replied "W-W-Well, um, I-I was hoping that S-S-Sasuke-kun and I could spend some time t-t-t-t-tog-gether at the f-festival…" she turned her head away from him, and Sasuke bit down a huge fit of laughter that threatened to erupt at any one moment. "Hn, is that so?" he said, and smiled at her, not a smirk, a smile. Hinata turned another shade of red under his scrutiny. "Fine-" he gave in "- Ill take 1 hour with you… but afterwards, I have to get started." Hinata turned to smile at him once more, and nodded appreciatively. Sasuke knew that they could spend however much they wanted, even though he had not necessarily come of age just yet, Sasuke already had access to the bountiful resources of the Uchiha fortune… After all, who else were they going to give it to… Itachi? Added with the fact that the Elder Council of Konoha wouldn't dare to lock the fortune away from him. Sasuke smirked, and spotted a shop with a gorgeous katana on display. Sasuke stopped to look at it, the blade was a masterpiece behind glass. Its sheathe was the darkest of night, and yet still somehow managed to glean brilliantly in the afternoon sunset. The blade itself was straight, not curved, unusual for a katana. It was also black, but what made it stand out was the glowing runes along its blade… Sapphire blue glowing kanji symbols ran the length of the blade

_Liberty…_

_Virtue…_

_Honor…_

_Peace…_

And at the very bottom of the blade, just above the handle, a symbol that glowed a fiery orange red in contrast to the others.

_Fire…_

He couldn't hold himself back, and dragged Hinata into the store with him. '_That damn blade has to be mine!_' he tapped the shopkeeper on his shoulder and he turned to face him. An old man, maybe in his 60s, and a retired ninja veteran probably. His ANBU mask and armor lay behind a display case in the corner of the store with a sign below it, NOT FOR SALE. "Hey, how much for the katana out front?" Sasuke asked him. To which Hinata gasped, it looked really expensive. '_Does he really have that kind of money?_'

"So, the young master has an interest in swords?" the old man said sheepishly, putting on a 'don't-waste-my-time' sort of face… Which he immediately took back upon finally noticing the gleaming hitai-ate leaf headband. Sasuke maybe young… But being a ninja cleared that up nicely. The man looked at him with renewed interest. "The piece you see in the window is actually over 1,000,000 ryo." he smiled, he may be a ninja, but there was no way this twerp could afford that! Sasuke smirked "Hn, ill take it."

The shopkeeper allowed his eyes to widen as Sasuke turned around, the symbol on his back spelled everything out, then and there. "S-Sasuke…Uchiha!" he realized. Sasuke turned to him once more with a check in his hand, "One million, straight from the Uchiha fortune…" he met his eyes. Hinata stared at him '_One million ryo?_' The shopkeeper took the check with shaky hands. "I-I-I-it's a-a-all yours sir!" and watched as Sasuke simply snatched the keys from his hands and moved to unlock the glass slide.

Weighing his new treasure in his arms, Sasuke smirked. The blade was just long enough for him. Shorter than a regular katana, but longer than a wakizashi, nothing ever felt so great in his arms. He looked curiously at a small pouch that had been tied to the sheathe. "That-" Sasuke turned to face the shopkeeper as he spoke "- is a pouch of blade extensions." he said. "Extensions?" Sasuke asked. Eyeing it curiously.

Opening the pouch, he was slightly short of shocked. In it, were multiple parts of a katana, hollow down towards the bottom, and tipped like a regular katana at the top, and each one held an additional symbol.

Sasuke understood what it was for now, '_With these, I can add or possibly subtract from the blade's length as my body grows…_'. He smirked, a weapon that would last forever. A separate pouch contained the same thing, except it was for the sheathe. Curious, Hinata pulled at the tip of the sheathe, and sure enough, it came off, allowing additions to be made to compensate for the blade's constantly changing length.

"Does it have a name?" Sasuke asked as the glanced sideways at the shopkeeper. "Of course it does, its name is Samui Kaji." Hinata's eyes grew at hearing its name… '_Samui Kaji… Cold Fire..?_' Sasuke gave his thanks, and sheathed the sword after a lengthy examination. Seemingly satisfied with his purchase Sasuke slung tied the blade over his shoulder and smiled at Hinata, to which she responded likewise and they went outside to resume their search for a hotel.

They were just sitting down to rest at a bench near a food stall when he spotted a reasonable inn just across the street. "I see a good one, come on." he said, grabbing Hinata's hand again he led her through the crowd and stopped at the front of the inn. It was there he realized his horrible mistake.

This "inn" was a love motel, and he had dragged her right up to it, and worse yet, they were standing side by side at its entrance holding hands to boot! Hinata blushed furiously as she saw where he was leading her and she let her mouth hang open unconsciously. Sasuke wanted to desperately explain the situation, but time wouldn't let him. As Sasuke turned around to speak to her, he saw a blonde haired orange-clad dobe jumping up and down just down the street, and a pink-haired girl with a red dress added to that. Sasuke dove inside and pulled her in, ignoring her protests, and instead hushed her with one hand as he leaned out to configure Naruto and Sakura's position. '_Were they sent to find us?_' he thought as Sharingan eyes scanned the crowd past the crowd. There was more than just Naruto and Sakura… "Oh hell no…" he whispered and Hinata instantly stopped her incessant pouting "W-W-What is it Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

Sasuke could just make out the figures of more of them … A grey coat with a hood, and a small puppy on top of its head, '_Kiba Inuzuka_'. Another grey colored coat, but this guy had an afro, and with Sasuke's Sharingan, he could see small insects on his neck. '_Shino Aburame_'. Sasuke couldn't see anyone else he might recognize.

He turned to Hinata and quickly explained his findings, her blush long since disappeared, she listened intently with wide eyes and nodded at everything he said. "T-This isn't good, Sasuke-kun, if Kiba is here, than so is Akamaru and he can easily sniff out my scent!" she said nervously, fiddling with her index fingers once more. Sasuke wasn't worried about them being found, that was inevitable, instead Sasuke worried about how they should fight them off… How should they… Run..?

Sasuke turned to look at Hinata and waited quietly as she confirmed his findings with Byakugan eyes. She suddenly turned pale, and she shut off her Byakugan. "Sasuke-kun-" she grabbed his hand "-we have to go!" she whispered desperately. They ran out of the back door, ramming into a poor young man, they were moving too fast to get a look at anything, Hinata didn't stop for anything she just ran tugging Sasuke's arm. By some unknown heed, Sasuke knew that they knew where they were. He glanced over his shoulder as they ran, and his Sharingan met the cause, its Byakugan eyes staring right back at him from the rooftop not a block away…

'_Neji Hyuuga_'

Sasuke tightened his grip on Samui Kaji.

* * *

"I've spotted them, they're heading North, your direction Naruto." Neji whispered through his headset

"Right, here goes! Come on Bushy Brows, we gotta catch Sasuke-teme!"

"Of course Naruto-kun! Sakura-chan, can you get them from the east? Naruto-kun and I are coming from their west."

"Okay, got it! Come on Ino-pig!"

"Hinata, you'll pay for stealing my Sasuke-kun!"

"Who said hes yours?"

"Yo! Kiba here, Shino and I got them from the North, hah!"

"Hn"

Neji shut off his radio and bounded off of the roof, preparing to chase behind them, Tenten dropped next to him. "Let's go…" he nodded to her. '_The chase begins…' _

_A/N : Hahaha! Sorry to leave it there, but I want Chapter 6 to be ALL about combat, and trust me, you're in for a treat!_


	6. 6 Fight like you live!

6. Fight like you live!

Sasuke tightened his grip on Samui Kaji, and flicked the slide lock mechanism on the side of its hilt, and heard a satisfying click. Now he could swing the blade all he wanted and didn't have to worry about it suddenly shattering into its many fragments on him. '_Hopefully it wont come to that though…_'

Hinata led him through the crowd in a panicked manner, not bothering to scan ahead with Byakugan, which was something that created a bad feeling in Sasuke's gut. "Hey! Where are we going!? he shouted over the crowd. Hinata just shook her head, tightened her grip on his wrist and continued to sprint forward. '_Shouldn't we at least change direction?_' thought Sasuke. His backpack was starting to weigh him down now, and reluctantly, Sasuke released his grip on Samui Kaji and yanked out a kunai, cutting the backpack's straps. It fell to the ground, and for the first time, Sasuke noticed that Hinata had done the same thing a long time ago.

Hinata came to an abrupt halt, in which Sasuke almost slammed into her. He looked over her shoulder to see them. Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame were barring their path. Hinata choked back tears at her comrade's hurt expressions, and tried to break left. She only took 2 steps when Naruto Uzumaki, and Rock Lee jumped down in front of them. Sasuke then realized what was happening, '_Tch, they've surrounded us…_' Hinata turned to face him temporarily, panic written across her face, which widened when she saw Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka land behind them with enraged expressions. "Looks like we wont get out of here without a fight after all…" Sasuke whispered to Hinata, and she nodded. '_We really will have to fight them…_' she thought somberly. Explaining the situation on why they left sure as hell wouldn't help them now. Hinata backed up into Sasuke on accident as Naruto took a step towards her. "Hey Sasuke-teme! Were taking you guys back! Right here, right now!"

"Tch" Sasuke turned away from Naruto just in time to see Neji and Tenten close their rear. Slowly, Sasuke took Hinata towards the center of the square. Many townspeople sensed the impending dangers and rushed towards cover, a curious few stared out their windows with wide eyes. Back to back, Hinata and Sasuke fell into Jyuuken fighting style positions, to which Neji widened his eyes slightly. No word of Hinata's training with Sasuke had ever reached the ears of another Hyuuga, and as such he never knew Sasuke was capable of their fighting style. The air was silent, and very hostile, not even Ino or Sakura were tempted to break the silence with their questions. '_Almost everyone is here… But where are.._' Sasuke shook the thought from his head. He had enough to deal with right now, Shikamaru and Choji would probably come into the picture later… But where and when? Just then, Neji stepped forward.

"Hinata-sama, on behalf of Hiashi-sama, I have been ordered to bring you to the Hyuuga Elder Council to seek their judgment on your dishonorable choices regarding Uchiha, Sasuke."

Sasuke was silent, he didn't want to talk right now, neither did Hinata it seemed. Neji frowned "I guess there will be no negotiations…" he lifted his arms in preparation for battle, and brought his Byakugan to bear. The afternoon sun was nearing the end of its descent…

Rock Lee sprung forward, swinging his fist at Sasuke. He was blocked with one hand, Sasuke gripped Lee's arm and threw him in the direction of Sakura and Ino. His eyes flashed an angry red as Naruto lunged next.

Naruto was stopped midway, Hinata tapped his neck at an incredible speed and watched sadly as Naruto cringed from the burns as his Tenketsu was swept out from under him. The rest of the team apparently decided that lunging one at a time was suicidal. Kiba and Sakura came at the same time, and were backed up by an angry swarm of insects to boot. Kiba came from above Sasuke, his shadow growing rapidly as Sasuke sidestepped and lifted his arms to block an axe kick from originally meant for his head. Sasuke gripped Kiba's left leg as he did with Rock Lee, but was caught off guard as Lee once again lunged, aiming a sweeping kick for Sasuke's legs.

Hinata meanwhile was busy fending off Sakura and Ino at the same time. With her superior aid and training, the Hyuuga heiress took the both of them with little difficulty. '_They still have the advantage in numbers though._' she thought grimly. Hinata pushed the both of them back with a mighty shove and clapped her hands together in preparation to form hand signs.

"_Katon-_" Sakura gaped and Ino widened her eyes _"-Gokakyuu no Jutsu_!" Hinata didn't want to have to resort to using such a deadly Ninjutsu, but they had a big disadvantage as it was, taking chances was not an option. A river of fire streamed from her petite mouth, running over and enveloping a few poles and benches that were too close. The other two kunoichi backed away just in time, but the searing flames would not be denied, and they were burned badly even though the fire had not actually touched them, the pure heat it gave off was enough to do it. Shino's insects had been backing them up as well, and now that ¾ of his bug population was burned to hell, he had to stop, and so he retreated.

Lee managed to trip Sasuke and was about to strike him again on the ground when he rolled over just in time. A huge crack in the concrete where he had been laying just a few moments ago. Kiba, having since been freed from his grip, rolled to his feet and was joined by Akamaru. He rested there, waiting for an opening as Lee and Sasuke seemingly disappeared from the square but then appeared on another part only to clash limbs and disappear again.

Hinata turned around and raised her hands just in time to block Neji's sudden assault, and ducked as his second hand sped past her head. Hinata rammed him with her shoulder, sending him backwards 2 feet, then sprung her palm towards his shoulder. The hit connected just as Neji slapped it away, '_Hes gotten slower__since the exams… Or am I faster?_' Tenten came from above her, mimicking Kiba's axe kick but only met thin air as Hinata stepped aside and struck Tenten with her free hand. Not being able to react in time, Tenten had her Tenketsu ruined around her ribcage, and she jumped back panting.

Sasuke and Lee were still battling ferociously. Sasuke appeared again, but this time he was in a crouching position instead of standing like normal. Lee, not expecting it, Appeared from above and widened his eyes just to meet Sasuke's smirk.

Sasuke's foot sprang upward, connecting with Lee's chin and sending him spiraling into the sky… Sasuke pushed off of the ground with both hands and flew after him. He met Lee in midair and poked the base of his neck with one finger. Lee's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

'_Oh! Kagebuyo: Shadow of the Dancing Leaf!?_'

"Its over…" Sasuke whispered. They were now horizontal in midair, a dozen or so feet off of the ground. With a single kick to his side, Lee's breath was driven out of him. Sasuke then used his shoulder as a means to pull himself over Rock Lee in midair, then sending a backwards punch on his head, causing him to spiral downwards. Sasuke followed him, and sent his second fist towards the bottom of Lee's chin, a solid hit, they were vertical now but Lee had struggled to right himself, and was horizontal once more, '_Big mistake!_' thought Sasuke. They were very close to the ground now. "Last one!" he yelled, then swirled in midair, and just as Lee hit the ground, Sasuke's foot landed square on his stomach.

"_Shishi Rendan: Lions Barrage!"_

Kiba watched in horror as Lee was knocked out before his eyes, but then regained his composure as Naruto limped towards him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I-Its not over yet…" he panted. The clogging of the Tenketsu around his neck made trouble for his entire body.

Neji, Tenten, and Hinata still fought on the opposite side of the square. Tenten was moving sluggishly, and had to pull out, leaving Hinata alone with Neji.

"Hinata-sama, how did you become so-? he was cut short as Hinata sprung towards him again, a series of punches rained down on his already sore arms and shoulders. He lashed out with two fingertips, intent on targeting vital Tenketsu around Hinata's heart, but she sidestepped out of range. Hinata was behind him now, and with a mighty palm slap on his back, Neji Hyuuga was done for as the last of combat-vital Tenketsu was erased, leaving him with only the primary necessities for survival.

Naruto and Kiba were the last ones, aside from Choji and Shikamaru, they were not actually assigned to this mission, and were forced to wait back in Konoha. Sasuke rejoined Hinata in the square center, facing the other two with angry Sharingan. Hinata stared at the last two of them, quietly praying behind her Byakugan that they would stand down.

Sasuke drew Samui Kaji from his shoulder, and saw its dull runes suddenly flare brightly in the now darkened city. Naruto and Kiba hesitated, this was the first time Sasuke drew the sword this entire fight.

Hinata saw the sword and pleaded to Sasuke with her eyes '_No! Please don't!_' Sasuke didn't notice her pleas, and instead brought it up to a ready position, eyes completely focused on Naruto and Kiba. Unable to reach him, she turned her eyes on the other two and pleaded them instead to back down. They stiffened, seeing the look of sadness in her eyes, and the urgent pleas to stop the fighting.

Kiba glanced sideways at Naruto, and saw the blonde reluctantly nod, he sighed, and together they dropped their guard and stepped aside. Hinata released her Byakugan, relieved, and Sasuke slowly but surely sheathed the blade. '_Maybe some other day…_' he thought. His eyes darkened to their normal state, and he looked at Hinata. She met his gaze and smiled slowly. They had won, the two of them against just about the rest of the Rookie Nine plus Team Gai.

Wordlessly, Hinata took Sasuke's hand, and together they sped past their dazed former comrades. Once they were out of sight, Naruto and Kiba began to gather up their unconscious fellow shinobi.

* * *

A/N : R&R Please! That was my very first fight scene _ever!_ So feedback would be appreciated.

Kudos to Kitsune-chan17 for the idea of : 'Samui Kaji'!

By the way, from this point onwards, I'm letting my reviewers have a voice in the outcome of the story.

Have a place you want them to go? An Original Character as an ally or enemy? Tell me, and if I can make it fit, than so be it.

Oh and, uh, this is kind of embarrassing, but I wanted to put this story on the kamoku ai community, but I don't know how! I've looked everywhere, but to no avail! Help me out here will ya?


	7. 7 A Break?

7 A Break…?

Sasuke and Hinata decided that they couldn't stay in Tanzaku… but the problem was, that they could not leave either. Having lost their backpacks full of supplies back in the chase, they had no choice but to simply stay on the outskirts of town.

Hinata scanned Tanzaku town once more with Byakugan, and for the twenty-second time that afternoon, she shouted "Sasuke-kun, I'm telling you its clear!" Sasuke sat on top of a large boulder that was at the base of the hilltop Hinata was standing on. He turned around and looked up at her with unsatisfied eyes. '_Tsk… I just know there's someone waiting for us to show up back there… but who?_' it was a bad feeling that wouldn't stop elbowing Sasuke in the back of his head. Hinata met his gaze with a frustrated pout on her facial features, '_How long is he going to keep doing this?_' she thought.

Sasuke flinched, he knew that look… That look signaled his untimely doom. Although she never really beat him whenever he accidentally angered her. She would make _that _face and he would feel extremely guilty, and would not be able to think straight about it, or about anything else at all, until he apologized. 

Sasuke frowned, he could feel it coming over him already. "Alright!" he shouted back up the hill, and was rewarded when she smiled and jumped down towards him. "So, can we go now? The festival is still going!" she whispered excitedly as she sat next to him. "Hn, well… okay, but lets keep in mind, were here for a reason." he replied, trying for the life of him to look serious and not laugh at her sudden change of attitude.

Hinata smiled and hummed to herself as she dragged Sasuke off of the rock and into town once more, softly counterattacking his protests against going inside with reasons of why they had to.

Sasuke was lying face up on the futon. Unfortunately Hinata couldn't find a regular inn that wasn't crammed full, and they were forced to go back to the love motel that Sasuke accidentally stumbled upon the day before. After watching Hinata turn beet red as he registered them with the clerk, he decided to let her go see the festival. He smirked as he remembered how she forgot about the motel then and there, and ran out with the money he lent her, a smile on her face. '_So… Where should I start the reconnaissance?_' Sasuke pondered the limited options at his disposal. He couldn't go into bars, he was far too young to sit at one without attracting attention, too bad they were usually the best place for such tasks. Asking on the streets wouldn't accomplish a thing either, in fact if _anyone _who even remotely knew who exactly Orochimaru was, then they would withhold any information they knew for their own safety. Sasuke sighed, '_This is going to take awhile._'

Hinata was out having a great time, for over an hour, she did nothing but play games and purchase souvenirs for herself and Sasuke. She couldn't remember the last time she was able to relax and be worry free for even a moment back in Konoha. Back there, something was always up, training, missions… family matters. The Hyuuga heiress was sitting on a bench having a snack when she suddenly remembered Sasuke's promise to see the festival with her when they first got here. She smiled as she got up and slowly made her way back to the motel to fetch him.

Sasuke was standing next to the window and gazing out at the crowd below. He had picked a 2nd floor room specifically for this. Sasuke spotted Hinata coming inside but continued to stand there, thinking on how he could divulge the information he desired from this town. He was lost in thought when he felt someone tap his shoulder lightly. Sasuke turned his head to see Hinata smiling brightly at him, "I just remembered, you said you were going to see the festival with me!". Sasuke closed his eyes and smirked, he had forgotten all about that up until now. "So, are you coming with me?" she asked him, blushing slightly. "Sure…" he turned to face her, her eyes brightened as she took his hand, dashing out of the motel.

Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga spent the next hour and a-half going from stall to stall, doing whatever they (actually just Hinata) had in mind. '_I guess today could just be counted as a day off._' thought Sasuke. He watched Hinata from a bench as she giggled over a few plushy dolls. '_Taking those to our next location is going to be rough…_' he scowled slightly for a split second, and quickly wiped it off of his face as she turned to face him again. Hinata sat down next to Sasuke, and it was then he noticed that she didn't actually buy any dolls.

"So, Sasuke-kun, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" she tapped his shoulder and he snapped out of his trance immediately. "Hn-" he shook his head but decided to go ahead and say it "- I'm not sure how exactly were supposed to get our information." he admitted, looking a little ashamed of himself. "But I thought we agreed we would take today off?" she questioned him softly. Sasuke nodded, but mentally shook his head. '_We cant afford a break, were after Orochimaru after all, he probably never stays in one place for long…_'

Sasuke felt a dark feeling wash over him, but ignored it. Instead he examined Hinata as her eyes wandered from stall to stall. '_Tsk… I'm spoiling her with the Uchiha fortune…'_

_The dark feeling crashed onto Sasuke's back once more, his Sharingan flared to life as an automated defense mechanism. With a sudden burst of energy, he stood and turned a full 180 degrees to find the source. He knew this feeling… the feeling of being watched._

_Across the street, on the third floor of a large inn, sat Hatake, Kakashi, and next to him, was Yuuhi, Kurenai._

_A/N : Sorry once more for cutting a chapter short, but my brain has been dry lately, and anything useful is evading my mind's grasp._


	8. 8 Now What?

_Song reccomendation : Naruto Original Sound Track - Need to be Strong_

_8 Now What!?_

Sasuke could see him… Hatake Kakashi, staring right at him and even though he was wearing a mask, for some reason, Sasuke could tell that he was mad. The situation didn't get any better when he saw Kurenai with him too. Hinata was starting to feel worried as she saw Sasuke suddenly get up and turn on his heels. She followed his eyes and gasped 'Oh no, why now!?'. Sasuke tore his gaze away from his teacher, grabbed Hinata's arm and dashed into the crowd. Taking on two Jounin was not going to be a walk in the park no matter how much stronger they were compared to the other Genin of Konoha.

Sasuke wasn't going to stop, Hinata realized. He wasn't going to stop anywhere, not for anything, they had to keep moving. 'But where do we go?' her thoughts raced across her mind at a frantic speed. Hinata was not looking forward to facing her own teacher in combat, and she had a feeling Sasuke wasn't about to fight Kakashi either.

"Hinata!" he called, and she nodded, activating her Byakugan to scan for the most suitable escape route. One look over her shoulder however, confirmed that Kakashi and Kurenai had bounded after them. Not only that, but they were** _gaining_** on them as well. Hinata fought down her panic and resumed looking for a way out… There! "Turn left!" she called out to Sasuke, which he immediately obeyed. Soon they had run out one of the town's side gates, an older, less used one. Sasuke still didn't stop, he was not panting, and showed no signs of fatigue. However, the run was beginning to take its toll on Hinata, as her breathing sped up, and became harder.

Finally they stopped by a small clearing, sitting down next to a large Yew tree that towered above the rest of the forest behind it.

A footstep sounded beside them. Sasuke and Hinata stood up and whirled around to see who it was. '_Damn its Asuma!_' they backed away from the tree as he approached them from the forest. Stars were spread about the night sky, and the moon shined brightly down upon them. Hinata could barely contain herself at this point. '_3 Jounin? How are we suppose to-_' a manly voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Dynamic Entry!"

Sasuke dove to the side and pulled Hinata along with him, above them flew Maito Gai. A dead miss, which was unfortunate for Asuma, and he took the hit instead. "Ugh-" he was accidentally pounded against the tree "- watch it you moron!" Gai stood up and quickly dusted himself off. "Oh! Sorry Asuma-san, they moved at the last sec-" "Yeah, yeah, I saw it happen… and felt it too…"

Hinata slowly sat up rubbing her head and saw that Sasuke was already standing over her, assuming the Jyuuken stance that she had showed him a long time ago. Hinata turned her head, and saw to her horror, Kakashi and Kurenai had closed the rear, they were cornered…_**Again**_!

Sasuke let a frustrated growl penetrate his voice, and he scowled viciously at his opponents. Hinata slowly stood up beside him and tugged on his arm. He glanced sideways at her, but didn't say a thing. Sasuke knew exactly what she was thinking… '_We can't win this time…_'

"Okay, kids, we've been ordered here by Konoha's High Council, they had a feeling what they sent before wasn't enough." Kakashi said "And it looks like they were right."

Kurenai didn't say anything, instead showing a look of disappointment directed at Hinata, in which she immediately looked to the floor, silently fighting back tears.

By this point, Sasuke Uchiha was thoroughly pissed off. "You think I'm going to let you stop us now?" he asked in a dangerous tone. Sasuke dropped his fighting stance momentarily and beckoned to his teacher with one hand, a smirk playing at the edge of his lips. "Come on…"

Kakashi nodded slowly, and gravely, and then disappeared from view entirely. Sasuke's Sharingan sprang to life and tracked his sensei's incredible movement with ease. Sasuke jumped away from Hinata so that she would not have to suffer the effects of an attack directed at him. Drawing Samui Kaji from his shoulder, Sasuke swung it with all his strength into a gap of air in front of him. Which was immediately filled with Kakashi's presence, a kunai drawn up to block the blade. The clang of metal on metal rang throughout the clearing, Sasuke jumped back as his sensei slashed at his waistline, and then was immediately caught of guard, a kick to his shoulder sent Sasuke flying 3 meters away. He rolled to his feet to see his opponent, Maito Gai had blindsided him! He averted his gaze to Hinata Hyuuga who was still standing right where he left her. She was trembling.

'_Of all the times to stop moving…_' he thought. He brought Samui Kaji up to a ready stance, and watched as the runes flared brightly in the night… Which gave off Asuma's presence as the light shined off of his headband. Sasuke could feel the light on his back, and wheeled around to slash at him. He was blocked by his chakra knives. The two of them had a short skirmish, wheeling around each other, trying to find a blind spot. Neither could gain any advantage however, Asuma with his superior skill, and Sasuke's Sharingan, evened the playing field. Sasuke ducked instinctively and sure enough, Gai flew over his head, missing by an inch and a half. Gai landed and rolled to his feet, charging at him again, this time with a kunai. Sasuke readied his blade, and took notice that Kakashi was on the move too… '_From behind!_'

Sasuke performed jumped overhead, and heard the clashing of metal as Kakashi and Gai swung their weapons only to hit each other. '_This is risky, but I have to try it!_' Sasuke threw Samui Kaji high into the air… It twirled in a circle repeatedly, the runes slowly dimming since his hand left its grip…

Sasuke looked down to face the two Jounin on the ground and clapped his hands together…

"_Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!_" a flurry of fireballs emerged from his mouthed and raced down to the ground below. A series of explosions sounded as they impacted on whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the target zone. He watched as two fireballs changed their arc in response to a moving target. '_It's a good thing they're homing projectiles…_' the fireballs curved to the left and smashed into a large boulder, leaving a huge cracks and clouds of dust along its surface.

Sasuke chanced a glance upward… '_It should be coming down now…_' Sasuke landed on his feet and held one hand in the air, and sure enough, Samui Kaji's hilt landed right in his grasp. "Its not over yet!" he announced confidently, a smirk playing at his lips again. He took another glance at Hinata, she was on the ground now, sobbing, as Kurenai stood over her. His smirk vanished.

Gai and Kakashi emerged from behind the boulder, covered in dust, but otherwise healthy and Asuma was nowhere in sight. Sasuke felt a leg impact on his back, and he emitted a pained growl as he was sent flying a few feet and skidded on the dirt.

"What the… hell?" he coughed as he slowly came to his feet. He looked over his shoulder to see Asuma lighting a cigarette where he was standing not so long ago.

'_That's it, there's no other choice… I have to do it._' Sasuke looked at Hinata once more, she was looking back at him, tears in her eyes. '_Sorry, but there's no other way…_' Samui Kaji was returned to its resting place on Sasuke's back.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke spread his arms, and allowed the feeling of darkness to emerge from within him.

_The fiery marks of hell itself spread across his skin_

* * *

****

**_A/N : R&R please... Heh._**


	9. 9 My Burden to Bear

9. My Burden to Bear

Sasuke breathed in the cold night air… and smirked.

'_Power…_'

The Jounin raised their guard almost immediately, Kurenai turned away from Hinata to look straight into Sasuke's eyes. '_This is where it ends…_' he thought. Sasuke chuckled lowly, black chakra emitted from his body, bringing with it the horrible feeling of death.

Hinata watched as Sasuke slowly straightened his back, and drew Samui Kaji from his back once more. The once beautiful blue runes immediately flared a dark purple in response to the corrupt chakra flowing through its black tempered blade. She noticed however, the last kanji symbol that represented Fire, was still flaring a bright red. A large wave of chakra washed over them all, causing the Jounin to flinch and Hinata to raise her arms to instinctively protect herself from a threat that was not actually there.

The curse had darkened now, and Sasuke had his eyes closed, the evil smirk growing wider slowly as the curse continued to call upon the reserves of his strength and expand it to three times its normal power. Sasuke felt the curse cease its activity, the feeling of darkness inside of him stopped moving. Now was the time.

Maito Gai stood in his classic battle ready stance, one arm behind his back and the other in front. A leaf passed over his eyes, and when it flew away, Sasuke was gone. He gasped ever so slightly, struggling to turn around, to raise his kunai just in time… But it didn't work, Sasuke closed in on his back at an incredible speed and soon a large slash bore diagonally across his back. With a pained yelp he struggled to counterattack, swinging his kunai knife vertically at Sasuke's chest. The corrupted Uchiha was too fast for him in his wounded state, and simply took one step backwards as the kunai sliced the air in front of him.

Sasuke, was about to kick him down when a trickle of movement in his left peripheral vision caught his attention. He brought his dark blade up and was rewarded with a clash of metal as Kakashi tried to catch him off guard. Another flash, this time to his right, holding back Kakashi with one hand on his sword, Sasuke moved his other hand to his kunai pouch, and drew one just fast enough to block Kurenai's slash attack to his shoulder.

Sasuke smirked, he could feel the darkness inside of him roar with activity, the curse working to keep his power at its highest point possible.

Hinata could barely keep pace of the fight in front of her, a flash of movement here, and then there. All the while clashes of metal on metal could be heard. Hinata saw Asuma limping Gai out of the fight, a large slash had torn the back of his Jounin's vest. The wound was large but not deep, and thus he could survive if treated properly. The Hyuuga heiress could hardly believe this was happening, one moment Sasuke was struggling to keep them at bay, and the next they were fighting an intense, even match.

By the time Sasuke disengaged his melee with Kakashi and Kurenai, his smirk had vanished. Apparently he only got Gai through the element of surprise. That did not please him at all.

Hinata struggled to stand, '_I have to stop this… I cant let it go on!_'

Kakashi sighed "Well, looks like ill have to start taking things seriously…" he adjusted his headband, and his lone Sharingan eye met Sasuke's. Kurenai opened her mouth reluctantly "This is the last opportunity Sasuke, you and Hinata only have this chance to come back willingly, after this it will be done strictly by force."

Hinata glanced desperately at Sasuke, mentally screaming at her lips to move. She was scared stiff.

"S-S-Sa-a-a...s-u-uke…" it was just loud enough for him to hear her. His evil smirk and Sharingan eye momentarily darted her way, then vanished from his face when he saw how desperate she was.

'_How the hell did I let it come to this?_' he frowned as he turned to face their former teachers. '_It's the curse, its making me do this… making me think this way!_' Sasuke felt the urge for combat… bloodshed trying to resurface itself on him, and he shoved it down forcefully. '_If there's any way to keep fighting with this thing on, I have to control my emotions._' The urge came back, stronger this time, Sasuke winced at the effort to keep it locked away in him. The feeling of darkness in his body was stirring again, disappointed, teasing him to give in, to let its power take over… '_I cant let it win, this curse is my burden, my responsibility… My…-_

_Greatest gift…_'

Sasuke shook his head trying to erase the evil influence on his mind, and sensing his hesitance, Kakashi decided to spring on their newfound opportunity. His kunai drawn, he thrust for Sasuke's waistline. The young shinobi was caught by surprise, still struggling with his internal conflict. There was no way he could evade now.

Hinata shot forward at her comrades danger, and slapped Kakashi's hand aside, burning the Tenketsu on the back of his hand in the process. Kakashi rolled to the side, surprised at the sudden interference. Hinata Hyuuga stood in front of Sasuke, her Byakugan brought up and standing in her Jyuuken fighting ready stance. Sasuke buckled onto his knees, Samui Kaji fell into the mound of grass at his feet with a soft thud. His hands scrambled over one another as he gripped his neck. The curse was growing impatient with him, and was now deliberately causing him pain to take control. A pained growl escaped his mouth through clenched teeth as Sasuke struggled to seal the curse once more. It resisted him, with all of its might, and he growled in a frustrated tone.

'_But I need that power…_'

'_No!_'

Kurenai took a leap forward, and struck at Hinata with her left fist. The Hyuuga heiress foresaw the attack and countered with her free hand, two fingers lashed out and connected with Kurenai's ribcage. She winced, and jumped back panting.

Sasuke collapsed onto his side. The curse had been sealed away once more, but the action left him unconscious and vulnerable. Hinata gulped. Covering for the both of them wouldn't be easy.

A look of concern crossed Kakashi's eyes, but he erased it as he lunged at Hinata, intent on making her step away from Sasuke long enough for Kurenai to take him away or hold him as hostage for Hinata's cooperation. The Hyuuga heiress would not comply to his plans however, and stood her ground as he dashed towards her. The full moon shined brightly in the clear, star littered sky…

Sasuke couldn't tell where he was… it was completely and totally dark. He couldn't see a thing. Reaching out with one hand, he felt nothing, saw nothing, smelled nothing, and heard only silence.

"Where… Where am I!?" he called out into the darkness. There was no reply.

He panicked as he felt something tug at the edge of his mind, an evil being intent on devouring him whole. His memories… All those happy, and all those sad were being sucked right out of him, into the endless void. "No!" he fought against it desperately, seeking to safeguard all that he could… He lost everything, his name, his home, his belongings, his feelings. An empty shell.

His mind's numb fingers gripped tightly onto one memory however, and the curse seal moved in on it, intent on taking it too. He fought desperately, this was all he had left. He cursed, kicked, punched, and slapped the darkness away from his body. Only then did he take a look at what he managed to save.

'_Hinata Hyuuga_'

He buried himself in the memory, as if it meant the world to him. He only knew who she was, anything about him had disappeared.

* * *

"_Sasuke-kun?" Hinata called out to him, they were standing out in Training Ground No.3_

_Yesterday, Hinata had finished instructing him in the ways of Jyuuken, and as promised, Sasuke Uchiha was going to reveal, each and every Fire technique known to him._

"_Well start out this way." he spoke nonchalantly and clapped his hands together to form hand signs._

_He spoke while doing so "This is the sequence, memorize it well, and remember that you have to concentrate your chakra in your chest while you initiate the sequence. Once you're done with the hand signs, move all the chakra to your mouth, and simply blow."_

_Sasuke repeated the sequence once more for her, this time calling out "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" a river of flames erupted from his mouth and shot forward at an alarming speed. At 10 meters out, the fire stopped advancing and formed a large ball of fire. Hinata gaped at the power of the jutsu and he smirked as the last of the flames left his mouth._

"_Okay, now you try." He stepped aside and she nodded to him "O-Okay… I-I-I c-can do this!" she initiated the handsigns sequence and mimicked his words "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" a mouthful of flames erupted from her, and stopped at three feet out. A fireball the size of a soccer ball formed in front of her and she released the technique after only five seconds. Sasuke smirked, it was no different from when he first tried to learn it from his father. Hinata glanced down at her feet, blushing as the shame flowed to her face. Sasuke couldn't help but laugh lightly at this. She turned to face him "W-What is it?"_

_Sasuke examined her for a few moments, causing her to turn rose red. "Its nothing,-" he said "- nothing to be ashamed of, it was absolutely no different for me." Hinata looked surprised by his kind words and blankly stared at him for a moment before a smile registered across her face…_

_Sasuke smirked "Hn, lets try this again."_

* * *

The fight was going poorly, Hinata had managed to stay next to Sasuke throughout the entire ordeal, but she was getting tired now. Kakashi was panting, and Kurenai had bent over, the absence of proper Tenketsu around her ribcage was beginning to affect her. The copy ninja attacked again, jumping high into the air and coming down at her from an angle this time. Hinata sidestepped, and as he flew past her, she tapped multiple points across his side, causing him to flinch and hit the ground rolling. Hinata waited for him to stand, only he didn't, she knocked him out.

Kurenai frowned, she was the only one left. Teacher against Student. Hinata faced her with a fierce expression, determined to keep Sasuke safe at all costs…

At all costs…

Kurenai dropped her fighting stance… "Go, now…"

Hinata was taken aback. '_Kurenai-sensei is letting us go?'_

She didn't complain, instead her Byakugan shut off immediately and her eyes conveyed her most sincere feelings of gratitude. Hefting an unconscious but still breathing Sasuke onto her shoulder, Hinata took one last look at her teacher. For a few seconds their eyes met and everything was still. "Thank you…" she whispered. Kurenai watched peacefully, a small smile finally coming up to her face, and with a flurry of leaves, Hinata Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha had escaped once more.

* * *

_A/N: Whew! That one took a bit, R&R guys,_

_Oh yeah, updates may take a bit longer then normal now that my school is picking things up once more, but ill still try to keep up to date!_


	10. 10 A Moment of Peace

10. A Moment of Peace

Sasuke could feel it coming back now, his mind's sanity slowly returning to him in his semi-unconscious state. His steady breathing assured Hinata of his well being and she sighed in relief. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the both of them had been leaning on each other against a large tree that Hinata chose for them.

After a brief scan with her Byakugan, she convinced herself it was safe, and finally dozed off peacefully against Sasuke's shoulder.

5 long hours passed as they both slept peacefully, with not a care in the world. Sasuke opened his eyes slowly, the bright red Sharingan still on standby. He looked around, there was a nearby stream, he was up against a tree set on a grassy patch that made him comfortable where he was, it was and the sun was reasonably high up in the sky, indicating it to be around 9:00 a.m. at least.

Last night's events came back to him in a flash, and only then was he aware of the faint aching all around his body. The usual aftermath of a curse seal activation. '_This time though… It tried to take me!_' Sasuke scowled and tried to stand, realizing it was not possible in his weakened state, he looked over at the weight that was dragging his left side down. Hinata was cuddled up against him, sleeping peacefully. '_So, she saved me then._' he quickly ran his Sharingan over her to examine any visible injuries but found none. '_Good, she's not hurt…_' He smiled slightly as his eyes darkened to their normal state.

Sasuke tried to leave to wash his face at the stream, but there was one small problem. Hinata was clinging to him, refusing to let go of his arm no matter how he tried to get her to let go. He smirked and decided he could wait. For awhile, he couldn't help but reflect on his dream over and over again, Hinata and himself during the first day, of their second week of training. '_Why did that come up now, of all times?_' he smiled as he recalled showing her the many different _Katon _techniques, she seemed really happy at the time, to learn so much so fast, and although he was slow to admit it to himself, he was too. He winced as his bodily ache spiked for a moment and then settled itself to its usual amount. It would've been nice to stay like this if he didn't hurt every second that went by. Another hour passed, and he sighed with relief as the last of the pain finally subsided and left him in peace. '_I don't think I'm going to use the seal again anytime soon…_'

He turned his head as Hinata finally stirred by his side. Her steady breathing quickened slightly as she slowly opened her lavender eyes. "Yo" a dark, masculine voice breached her ears and she smiled. '_I know that voice._' it took Hinata awhile to notice she was leaning on Sasuke, clinging to his arm actually. She blushed slightly as she realized this, but instead of jumping back like she would have done to anyone else, she raised her eyes to meet his and smiled. "How long have I been asleep…?" she asked as she reluctantly let go of him. "What felt like a long time to me, you wouldn't let me go even in your sleep." he smirked at her and got up to go towards the stream. The red tint in her cheeks increased a little and she twiddled her fingers slightly as she watched him go. "Well… Someone had to keep you in place…" she whispered to herself, smiling more broadly than usual, she ran after him.

Sasuke drew Samui Kaji and ran a check on the blade. The runes were dead, but upon establishing a firm grip, the symbols along its side slowly came to life with a sapphire blue light. The red symbol of Fire was the first to light up completely, and Sasuke smirked. Sheathing the blade and checking to make sure he didn't drop any of its extensions, he turned his head to watch as Hinata washed her face with the crystal clear water. It was then he noticed just how filthy she was, actually, they both were. '_Damn… I really need to wash up._' he thought as he scratched a pat of dried dirt off of his elbow. His stomach suddenly rumbled… '_Maybe after I find something to eat…_' Hinata turned at the sound and giggled as Sasuke closed his eyes, looked towards the ground and frowned as he covered his stomach with one hand, signaling the reason of the noise. "I'm going to go out and look for some rations, you should wash up." he said as he picked up his kunai pouch off of the ground and secured it behind his back once more. Hinata blushed at his words "U-U-Um, a-alright." she watched as he jumped up into the foliage and disappeared, leaving her alone at the stream.

* * *

Sasuke dropped down next to a small tree in a clearing not far from where they were settled. Reaching out with one of his hands, he plucked a ripe red apple, and after turning it around for a quick observation, bit into it hungrily. He finished the apple and started on another one. '_Well, she should be done by now._' Sasuke threw the second apple core to the ground and, taking an armful of fruit, bounded back to their chosen location.

Hinata had just finished zipping up her coat when Sasuke landed in front of her, smiling at him, she rushed over to help him with the fruit he was carrying. Sasuke stared, mouth slightly open in awe, '_Beautiful…_' his reaction escaped Hinata's notice and, taking half of his load, she carried it back to the trunk of their tree humming to herself. She turned when she realized he wasn't following her, and blushed heavily under his intense gaze. "S-Sas-s-suke-kun?"

Sasuke mentally shook himself out of his daze and forced a harsh reply from his throat "I-Its nothing…"

Hinata glanced at him quizzically and proceeded to continue walking. '_The way he was looking at me.. Its almost as if-_' she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. '_Still…_' she smiled to herself gleefully trying with all her might not to jump for joy. '_What if he does…?_'

Sasuke was now shoulder deep in the fresh water, surprisingly there was no fish. He sighed and stared straight up into the sky, pondering his newest mental discovery. '_Crap… I think I like her…'_

* * *

_A/N : Okay, that's it for now, R&R people! Sorry if it seems short, but I wanted this chapter to be as the title says, a moment of peace from all that's been going on for them, heh._


	11. 11 Realization

11. Realization

Sasuke finished his bath, and walked back towards Hinata completely clean. He found her laying at the base of the tree trunk, eating an apple and staring into the sky. Hinata looked up at him and smiled, blushing slightly while pondering his strange behavior back at the stream. Her mouth gaped as she looked at him, without all the dirt clogging his features, he truly was a prince, just as every girl in Konoha had described him. The Hyuuga heiress blushed another shade of red and quickly averted her gaze back towards the sky, secretly willing him to not notice.

"Hey…" he said while he took a seat next to her, making a grab for another apple. It was a good thing he picked plenty of them before heading back. Hinata turned slightly to continue staring at him in silence while he looked up at the sky to gauge the time. '_Roughly 3:00 p.m. by the height of the sun…_' he sighed. They wasted the entire day recovering from combat. '_One thing's for sure._' he thought '_If we can barely hold back Jounin level ninja, than there's no way in hell were capable of taking on a Legendary Sannin yet…_' he frowned at this thought and closed his eyes while taking another bite from the fruit in his hand. "What's wrong?" Hinata asked him, raising one of her hands and tapping his arm. "Well… I was thinking,-" he said "- we really need to train more, Orochimaru is sure to be stronger then Kakashi, Kurenai, or anyone else that we've fought so far, and seeing as how we barely scraped by that last one, we really need to increase our skills."

Hinata nodded as he spoke. It was too true, they barely won that fight and that was because Sasuke had resorted to the painful alternative of willfully releasing the curse seal. '_I hope he never does it again…_' she closed her eyes and frowned at the memory of watching him cringe as he struggled to disable the seal's power. '_Never again…_

"Come on-" Sasuke got up, taking her hand and helping Hinata to her feet also "-we need to decide where were going next. If we go back to Tanzaku again, then they might have ANBU Black Operations waiting there this time." Hinata nodded and the two of them set out to get some distance between them and the city before deciding their next move.

They jumped the treetops for roughly 10 minutes before dropping down to a wide road. Hinata scanned with her Byakugan. "I don't see anyone else out here, I guess were alone." she blushed slightly at her words. Sasuke only nodded, and walked forward, motioning for her to follow. Hinata couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at his seemingly lack of a reaction, and it momentarily displayed on her face while she followed him.

Sasuke did not trust his voice at the moment and was silently fighting down the levels of red tint in his face…

* * *

Sasuke and Hinata stopped after traveling for another hour, Hinata had a habit of settling in earlier than most people, which irritated Sasuke slightly, but he complied to her wishes without a fight. He chose a nice spot in the middle of a green meadow, and then remembering that they did not have any supplies to set up a camp, began looking around for suitable cover. '_I guess it'll be a warm night out._' he thought, as the warm summer breeze swept by him. Hinata seemed to think otherwise however, and she activated her Byakugan in slight frustration at the lack of suitable cover. The sun was setting now, Sasuke decided to let Hinata find a suitable location for them to settle in, seeing as how she was not satisfied with sleeping out in the open. He drew Samui Kaji from his shoulder, the blade had been had seen its fair share of use yesterday, and that promoted the reasoning that he should practice with it more.

Hinata sighed as cover seemed to be impossible to come by, and with ANBU probably on their tail now, sleeping out in the open was a big risk. The Byakugan sighed and went back to rest as she turned to watch Sasuke swing Samui Kaji in slow motion. The runes flared dully in the sunset as he swung it towards an imaginary enemy and then raised it to parry the counterattack that would have probably been carried out in a real life combat situation.

Sasuke felt her eyes upon him, and sheathed the blade, "So-" he asked "-what's the verdict?" she smiled and shook her head "I don't see anything out here Sasuke-kun."

"Then I guess well have to settle for my choice this time." he smirked. Hinata had always been the one to decide where they stopped until now. Sasuke raised his hands and beckoned to Hinata in a Jyuuken pose. "Let's go." he smirked as she raised her own hands in preparation with a confident look in her eyes. "I'm looking forward to this."

They lunged towards each other and met in the middle of the meadow. They traded blows and parried one another for a full 30 seconds before finally breaking apart. Neither had sustained a single hit, Sasuke smirked "Is that all you got?" he teased her to which she countered with a highly confident smile "Not yet!"

The night sky filled with stars over their friendly yet intense skirmish.

Hinata lay next to Sasuke, both of them still breathing hard from their training match, In the end, Sasuke, his body being unable to react in time to his Sharingan's warning, was pegged next to his cheek, although neither of them flowed chakra into their hands, so he wasn't really hurt. "Heh… Ill let you get away this time…" he said to which she giggled. '_Maybe, just maybe when this is all over, I might be able to live in peace._' Sasuke thought, his vengeance for his family grew less and less important with each passing day as his mind was set on their current journey.

Hinata cuddled up next to him as she always did, but this time the both of them blushed harder then the first time they did it. It took 2 minutes for them to fight red tint down without making each other notice, and they both stared up at the sky for what seemed like an eternity when Hinata reached up with one arm, and grasped the air in front of her. Sasuke glanced at her quizzically but didn't say a thing as she turned her palm for examination. "I wonder if we can really do this." she admitted, this entire time she was not sure if defeating Orochimaru was an accomplishable task for just the two of them. "Don't be stupid-" he replied quietly "- were more then enough for this." he smirked in the pale moonlight. Laying flat on his back, his arms tucked behind his head as a makeshift pillow, watching the moon and stars, and having Hinata next to him made his happiness skyrocket for the first time in several years. He reached out his hand and repeated Hinata's gesture.

_'Well win through this, ill make sure of it._' he thought.

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him away

**Dare mo ga minna shitteru**

**Keseya shinai kizu o**

**Dore gurai tsuzuku no?**

**Mou iranai yo**

**Dare mo ga minna matteru**

**Arasoi no nai hibi o**

**Senshou no heishi-tachi**

**Omoi dashite yo**

**Ima haha no Nukuoro o**

**Kono hateshinaku hiroi sekai ni**

**Jibun dake no chizu egaite**

**Namida koraete**

**Bokura wa auiteyukou**

**Furimukanaide**

**Mae dako o mite**

**Sono karada kuchihateru made**

**Nigeteyuku n da mirai e**

**Omoi dashite yo**

**Ima haha no Nukuoro o**

**Kono hateshinaku horoi sekai ni**

**Jibun dake no chizu egaite**

**Namida koraete Bokura wa aruiteyukou**

**Furimukanaide**

**Mae dake o mite**

**Sono karada kuchihateru made**

**Nigeteyuku n da mirai e**

_'Well win through this, ill make sure of it'_ she thought.

She closed her eyes and let sleep take her away

_**We all understand**_

_**That wounds can't go away.**_

_**How long will it go on?**_

_**We don't need them anymore**_

_**We all wait for the day**_

_**That there will be no strife.**_

_**Wounded soldiers,**_

_**Remember now**_

_**Your mothers' warmth.**_

_**In this vast and endless world,**_

_**Drawing our own map,**_

_**And holding back our tears,**_

_**We'll continue on walking.**_

_**Stand up now,**_

_**See now, however many times**_

_**Sleeping lions are awakened,**_

_**Live on tomorrow**_

_**We all carry**_

_**A fragment of love,**_

_**Even if we feel hatred,**_

_**Nothing will be born of it.**_

_**That's something we don't need.**_

_**Within the limits of time,**_

_**Setting out for a paradise we've yet to see,**_

_**As far as it takes us,**_

_**We'll continue on walking.**_

_**Don't turn back,**_

_**Only look ahead.**_

_**Until your body wastes away,**_

_**Live on to the future**_

_**Remember now**_

_**Our mothers' warmth.**_

_**In this vast and endless world,**_

_**Drawing our own map,**_

_**And holding back our tears,**_

_**We'll continue on walking**_

_**Don't turn back**_

_**Only look ahead.**_

_**Until your body wastes away,**_

_**Live on to the future.**_

_****_

Song : Rakuen by Do As Infinity

A/N: Sorry, the lyrics were really long for this song, but it fit so much that I just had to slap it in heh. I dont blame you if you skipped over it, just be aware it carries a bit of significance eh?

R&R please.


	12. 12 A ways to go

12.A ways to go.

They woke early in the morning, the sun was just beginning to brighten the sky. Sasuke sat up , careful not to wake Hinata as the cool morning air swept across his face. He looked around the meadow and located his blade laying in the grass next to a rock and re-slung it across his back. After making sure that Hinata was warm, he went off in search of something for them to eat.

Sasuke silently walked into the forest once more, intent on finding another apple tree or something that he could take from easily without a hassle. '_I wonder where were going to go next._' he sighted a bush with a strange fruit about the size of a baseball and purplish in color, after cutting it open and performing necessary tests, Sasuke determined it was edible and took an armful of them.

Hinata was still sleeping peacefully in the grass, her mouth curved into the tiniest smile while she dozed. Sasuke carefully plopped the fruit next to her and drew Samui Kaji, preparing to get some morning practice before she woke.

Another hour passed before the Hyuuga heiress opened her eyes, quietly yawning, she sat up and watched Sasuke attack his imaginary foes in slow motion half a dozen feet away. She spotted the fruit next to her, took one of them, and ate it unquestioningly. It was surprisingly sweet.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called out, to which he ceased his training immediately and turned to face her. "Hn?"

Hinata threw one of the fruit to him, which he caught single handedly. "Do you know where we are going to go now?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No, I haven't seen any suitable place where information might be bountiful, and besides, Konohagakure's forces are probably standing by in just about every village, town, or city within the Land of Fire." Hinata nodded, '_We probably have our own wanted posters by now.' _she frowned. Konoha's Elder Council wouldn't let the last Uchiha slip by so easily, the Sharingan was too rare for it to lose control of once and for all. Plus the entire Hyuuga clan probably didn't like the idea of their heiress running away with Sasuke at all. "We need to go somewhere though, staying away from town all the time wont get us anywhere." she said, looking him straight in the eyes with a look of concern emanating from her facial features. Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, '_She's right, but staying in Fire Country isn't the way to go, we have to leave._'

Hinata watched as he sat down and bit a chunk from the fruit. "It looks like were going to have to leave the country…" he whispered. Hinata went stiff momentarily her head tilted forward and her eyes darted all over the ground, "W-What? W-W-Why a-are we going to have to l-leave?" the Hyuuga heiress knew their situation perfectly well, but that still did not overcome her fear of having to leave the country. Doing that would mean she would have basically abandoned everything she had at home for who knows how long. "Hinata… This is something we have to do, you knew it would eventually come to this anyways." he eyed her carefully. After a few moments, she nodded slowly, and let her body relax once more. She seemed sad, but when she looked at him once more her eyes whispered of determination.

Sasuke nodded approvingly and stood up to face the nearby road. Going North was a long way out, but it would eventually lead them out of the country borders if they wanted to go by land. With the Uchiha fortune, he could easily afford a ferry to save time, but ANBU had probably guessed ahead and most likely placed their shinobi in just about every port. '_It seems like well have to take the long road out of here._'

Hinata stood next to him, eyeing him curiously, and turned to blush in silence when he looked back at her. Sasuke sighed, "Well, judging by our current situation, well have to hightail it north to get out of here."

She arched one of her eyebrows curiously at this, and faced him again "But, Sasuke-kun, isn't it a very long trip from here to the border north?" Sasuke nodded to her. Tanzaku, the town of which they fled not so long ago was far in the south of this country to begin with. Despite the fact that regular shinobi could travel the distance in a few short days, they did not have that luxury. Hurrying would help spring themselves into traps, and that was the last thing they wanted. That meant they had to run across just about all of the Land of Fire like regular travelers to get to the border without taking too many risks, and once they got there, they had to decide which of the many countries to go next. A hard choice indeed, the world was not as small as people claimed it to be.

"We've got a long way ahead of us, we should train as we go." Sasuke whispered and walked over to the road with Hinata following close behind.

They set out on the road, side by side. Occasionally meeting another traveler, or beating another shinobi unconscious before he could run for help. Unfortunately, they were starting to leave a trail, and as a result they had to zigzag across the country. A desperate attempt to shake off any pursuers.

2 weeks went by like this, and they had managed to make it halfway at their pace. Something normal travelers would consider good time, but to them it was hellishly slow, Hinata had once restrained Sasuke from beating on innocent passerby in an attempt to vent his frustration.

They were on the road, 1 day from the border line, but they had not lost the ANBU forces, and they were ambushed several times that day. Sasuke slumped next to a tree, Hinata sitting right next to him, both were panting. Taking on the ANBU forces in head on combat was out of the question, they had to either surprise them or flee.

Hinata opened her Byakugan and took a quick glance around. '_We lost him._' she turned to Sasuke and announced "I don't see him anywhere." the last Uchiha wasn't convinced, his eyes darted from bush to bush, tree to tree, rock to rock, his Sharingan passing over it all with utmost haste. "Sasuke-kun…" Hinata tugged on his arm worriedly, he had been on edge for the past 3 days. His Sharingan turned to face her, two tomoe spun around each pupil examining her carefully. Sasuke sighed finally, and his eyes darkened. "Okay…" he whispered, and he stood straight once more to get their bearings. Hinata smiled and she released her Byakugan a moment later.

"Come on, we should keep moving." Sasuke beckoned to her and she hurried after him as he walked off. They had given up the road a long time ago, and now took any path as long as they went north. With Hinata's suggestion, they stalked slowly and quietly through the woods for the rest of that day. Stopping only when they heard or saw something that wasn't natural to the forest.

A booted footstep rung in Sasuke's ear. He reacted automatically, Sharingan flaring to life once more, and threw a handful of shuriken to the target. The ANBU Black Operations Shinobi sidestepped them easily and lunged straight towards him. They fought on the forest floor, the shinobi thrust out with a kunai, which Sasuke's Sharingan perceived and he dodged easily. Activating the chakra stored in his palms, Sasuke lashed out and struck the shin obi's armored torso. Only a portion of his chakra went through, and the Tenketsu was not thoroughly damaged. The shinobi jumped backwards and tossed a kunai straight to Sasuke's stomach. Another kunai flung in from the side, and hit it away, Hinata jumped out from a bush and engaged the enemy in a furious hand-to-hand.

A few forest animals scurried away from the fighting on the forest floor. The ring of metal and crushing of wood echoed throughout that portion of the woods. Several ANBU in different locations sprung their heads up at the sound, and bounded towards the combat zone immediately.

Sasuke vanished from sight as Hinata took the attention of their opponent, and then reappeared in a poof of smoke above the target's head. An axe kick came down and hit the back of his head, knocking him out instantly. The shinobi crumpled to the floor without a sound and without a word, Sasuke and Hinata fled from the scene.

'_The border is so close, the patrols have quadrupled in the last hour and half…_' Sasuke frowned as he turned his head to check on Hinata. A light bruise appeared on her wrist, '_It must've happened when he tried to counter the Jyuuken.'_ he noticed that Hinata was doing the same to him. Sasuke was completely uninjured however, and she smiled as they ran top speed through the forest.

Sasuke pointed his finger towards the sky, a signal to Hinata, and she nodded. Together they ran up a tree and proceeded bounding from limb to limb the rest of the way to the outer edges of the last forest.

The ANBU arrived on site, and were tracking their footsteps, only to see them vanish. The captain growled in frustration, and ordered his squad to rally to him, examining his unconscious comrade.

The last Uchiha and the Hyuuga heiress dropped to the floor just outside the forest. The border was just up ahead, an invisible line dividing them from the world beyond. They ran faster and faster, they lost the ANBU but that was no reason to stop now.

In a time span of 5 seconds and 20 footsteps later, Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata left the country.

* * *

_A/N : Sorry, this one wasn't that great, but its getting harder and harder to come up with good ideas (thus the delay yesterday.)_

_I've decided to let the reviewers voice their opinion on where the couple should head next._

_Sunagakure ? (Hidden Sand)_

_Kirigakure ? (Hidden Mist)_

_Otogakure ? (Hidden Sound)_

_R&R Please._

Oh, and as a side note, for all those fans of Inuyasha, I reccomend you check out my friend Kitsune-chan17's story : When Im Gone


	13. 13 World Map

13. World Map

Hinata panted as she lay behind a large boulder, 5 miles out from the Land Of Fire's borderline. Sasuke hid in a nearby tree, watching their surroundings vigilantly, his Sharingan picked up even the slightest movement. Even if they were out of range of Konoha's Special Forces, the Elder Council could still sign a mission that would provide them an excuse to go hunting outside of the country.

They had run non-stop ever since they left the country, and despite the fact that they could've gone slower after dashing across the mile long clearing and then disappearing into the next forest. Sasuke had said that he didn't want to take any chances with an undoubtedly pissed off ANBU captain and his squad. '_Why… Why does it always have to be like this…?' _but she already knew the answer. This hardship was decided the moment she stepped out of the village so many days ago. '_If its this hard… Then how come I don't feel any regret at all?_' she wondered to herself as her breathing slowly leveled out.

Hinata smiled as she remembered the time they spent under the stars, just sleeping peacefully after a hard day's worth of travel…the time they spent at the festival in Tanzaku… and all the strength she gained, Hinata Hyuuga was not, by any means, a weakling anymore. '_Yeah… That's right, that's why…_' Hinata turned her gaze and felt her Byakugan surface to check Sasuke's well being. Despite the fact that he could clearly defend himself without her help, she couldn't help but check on him at regular intervals. She watched as he jumped down from his tree, 20 meters away, and walk around, Samui Kaji in one hand, and his other hidden in his pocket, unbeknownst to any opponent, that he was gripping a handful of shuriken in it.

Sasuke made his final checks from the ground, he learned a while back that aerial view was indeed not always the best. Satisfied, he smirked and sheathed his sword, but his hidden hand kept its firm grip on the cold metal stars in his pocket. He had accidentally attacked 2 small animals for being overly jumpy with his weapons that day. Sasuke made his way back to Hinata and found her staring and smiling as he emerged from behind a bush that hid her from outside view.

"Hey… You okay?" he plopped down next to her and she slowly nodded. Hinata continued to examine him, which made Sasuke arch one brow at her. She quietly giggled and shook her head, turning away from him at last. Sasuke shrugged, '_Tch, its amazing, the lengths I go through to keep this girl safe…_' he thought as he remembered setting up 32 explosion trip wires, 5 log traps, 2 kunai spring traps and an uncountable number of nets, all fashioned overnight with nature's materials combined with Sasuke's careful use of his own personal supplies. He frowned as he recalled, he only had 4 kunai left, that and no explosions were heard, that meant either their pursuers were very careful, had decided to take a long route, or they were not being pursued at all. He could also tell that Hinata had no clue about it, either that, or she didn't show anything of it.

For a moment they listened as the sounds of the new land came to them. They weren't far from the border, but already songs from foreign birds sang in the air and some animals they saw were indeed not to be found in Konoha. '_Damn… Its too bad neither she nor I packed a map._'

The spent the next day traveling farther away from their former home country and deeper into the foreign one. Sasuke took a glance at Hinata who met his eyes and said "We have to decide our next stop, we cant stay here because this place is literally right next to the Land of Fire." Hinata only nodded as they proceeded at a normal pace along a dirt road between rolling hills and fertile farmland. Staying here would have been nice but unfortunately, it was not an option.

Sasuke scowled at the dirt as they walked down the road, of all the lessons he paid attention to at the academy, geography just didn't interest him back then. '_I wonder where exactly we can go though._' Sunagakure came to his mind immediately, but he remembered of the recent alliance established between them and Konoha. Otogakure seemed to make the most sense at first, but then Sasuke shook his head. Orochimaru would not choose such an obvious place for his hideout. The last option… was… Kirigakure.

It made sense, judging from the last time he had seen the place, it was with Team 7 during their mission to protect the bridge builder from enemy shinobi and some corporation he couldn't really remember. Sasuke smirked as he remembered his first challenge…

The fake shinobi tracker, Haku Shiro and his master, Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and a Demon to boot. After the events taken place there so long ago, the local village probably wouldn't mind offering him and Hinata amnesty as repayment for liberating them. '_That's if I can find anyone who remembers my face…_' all the attention had been on Naruto the day they left, so Sasuke was unsure if he indeed would be remembered at all. Not that it bothered him…

Hinata watched him curiously from the corner of his eyes, he seemed deep in thought, frowning at first, then converting it into a smirk as the thoughts flowed in and out of his mind. She decided to not question him, if he had something to say, then he would say it. Hinata turned her gaze back to the fertile lands they passed by, and occasionally waved to a lone herder or group of farm workers that greeted them with smiles and friendly waves. '_Everyone seems happy here._'

The undoubtedly Ex-Hyuuga heiress now, smiled and tapped Sasuke's shoulder as she spotted what seemed like a cozy little village a mile down the road. It was sitting just behind a large hill, but after examining it with the Byakugan, she could make out multiple buildings, many people, and few inns. No one there even remotely looked like shinobi, at least, from this distance. Sasuke followed her gaze and saw a few buildings poking around the hill. "You want to stay there for the night?" he asked, turning to face her, his features betrayed nothing of his mood, but she was used to that by now. "Yes, I think its time for us to take a break for awhile. Being on the move all the time isn't good Sasuke-kun." she tilted her head and eyed him straight back. After a few seconds of walking and staring at each other, Sasuke smirked. "Hn, all right then."

Hinata stepped into the town and took a curious look around. It wasn't by any means shabby, it was colorful, had plenty of solid material for building, and many market stalls sat on the side of the road with crowds of people in the street. '_Maybe not a village after all, more like a small town._'

"Oh, and Hinata." Sasuke turned his head to look at her as they walked into town. "Yes?" she continued to look around, which slightly irritated Sasuke, but he continued anyways. "I think Ive decided the next most suitable location for us to go." Hinata turned to face him at this. "Where?" she seemed a little sad about being left out of the decision making, but she didn't mind it to much. "Once were done here, I want to head straight to Kirigakure. They are probably the best place to settle and search for now."

Hinata frowned slightly. '_Kirigakure? But that's so far from here…_' she settled on a bench as Sasuke went over to one of the food stalls. '_I guess hes right though…_'

Sasuke came over to her, holding two bento boxes piled high with fresh food. "Here." he placed one of them conveniently in my lap. The Uchiha didn't bother sitting down though, and instead ate while standing occasionally checking on her to make sure she was eating too. '_He worries to much…_' Hinata covered her mouth with one hand and giggled silently. He finally decided to sit down after a few moments, and was almost finished with his food, while Hinata was only halfway.

A few towns girls giggled and stared in their direction. Just out of earshot, but Hinata, with her trained eyes, could read everything that left their lips. What they said made her blush furiously. '_I don't want to stay here anymore…'_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the super late updates. I've been playing Ultimate Ninja 3 and I've been having a lot of fun, using Sasuke's Sharingan to pull off 64 palms is awesome!_


	14. 14 Admittance

14.Admittance

Sasuke noticed a beet red Hinata sitting next to him. He glanced over at her curiously, then noted the band of girls not a few meters away. He met their blushed giggles with a cold hard Sharingan glare, and smirked when the paled immediately.

"There, you don't have to worry about them." he stated while smiling at Hinata.

Hinata was still looking right into her lap, still red at the words she could make out. '_They said such outrageous things!_' she glanced over at Sasuke and put on a strained smile. "T-T-Thank you."

Sasuke however, didn't even appear to be partly convinced, and he flat out stared at her, causing her to blush and another group of girls to stare curiously.

"You're a very bad liar…" he smirked and Hinata sighed in defeat.

Sasuke widened his smirk and focused on his empty bento box now. He frowned when he saw that Hinata was not yet completely finished with hers. "Come on, hurry up and finish, we need to find a suitable inn."

Hinata nodded and quickly gulped down the remainder of her rice. Sasuke nodded and after throwing the empty boxes away, they toured the small town.

Sasuke and Hinata spent a good hour and half walking through the town, stopping by the small stalls, and looking at a few inns. '_It reminds me so much of Tanzaku._' Hinata smiled to herself. She examined Sasuke further as his head darted back in forth. Walking through the light crowd and looking for an inn really brought up a familiar feeling.

Hinata looked over his shoulder and saw one that looked reasonably well. "Sasuke-kun, over here!" The Ex-Hyuuga heiress jerked him away from the direction he was originally headed and he yelped lightly in surprise. Now it was Hinata's turn to blush and Sasuke couldn't help but laugh openly, a very rare thing to see. Hinata Hyuuga had led Sasuke Uchiha to a love motel, _**again**_. "I-I-I'm s-sorry I-" Sasuke cut her off, "No, this is fine…" he was still panting a little from his outburst.

"B-but this is a-a-"

"I said its fine. Let's head on in."

Hinata blushed and quietly complied as he took her arm and led her inside. The place actually wasn't so bad. It was a pretty big complex, with a huge open air square in the middle. '_The perfect place to hone my new jutsu._' Sasuke smirked. Hinata noticed his smirk and began to blush even more furiously. Given their place and time, a smirk might be a bad sign. Sasuke looked over at Hinata as he paid the bill : 2 nights stay.

"Is there something wrong?" he quirked an eyebrow, but his face gave off nothing of what he thought.

"No…No…. Nothing!" she hesitantly squeaked.

Sasuke simply shook his head and sighed. '_What could she be hiding now…?_' the realization hit him a moment later as he remembered smirking while registering when he thought of his new jutsu. '_Ah… So that's it…_' he blushed at the thought of any _**actions **_that Hinata was probably suspicious of by now. He smirked again '_Well… Maybe ill tease her a little._' Hinata had long since lost her blush as they made their way to the second floor. The inn was pretty fancy, polished wood, traditional slide doors (they still incorporated locks and the doors were made of thick, dark brown polished wood though), and from the looks of things, maybe some room service as well. But none of this was on Hinata's mind right now '_I can trust him… I think…_' she remembered the first time they went to an inn like this at Tanzaku. _'He didn't do_ _anything there… right?_' Hinata calmed down a little. She then took notice of all the scented candles, undoubtedly placed around to create a _**romantic**_ atmosphere. '_But then again, we couldn't really stay there! People found us a few hours after registration!_' Hinata slowly began to panic once more, but it was odd. It wasn't plain panic. '_No.._' she realized with wide eyes. Was this… '_Anticipation!?_'

The two of them reached their room Sasuke slid the key in and flicked the lock. He sighed as he stepped in. Immediately he found the bed and sat down on it, carefully placing Samui Kaji on the ground. Hinata stood at the edge of the bed, very unsure of what to do.

"You sure you alright? Something doesn't seem right…" Hinata jumped at the sound of his voice.

"U-urm, no, no! I'm fine…really!" she squeaked nervously, twiddling her fingers before her like she used to.

Sasuke was not convinced, '_She's still suspicious of my intentions._' he tried hard not to laugh. '_Time to tease her a little, maybe afterwards ill start training._' The Uchiha decided to start things off slowly. As Hinata made a quirky excuse to leave the bed he silently stared at her. Not bothering to hide it at all. Sasuke smirked confidently as Hinata turned noticed his eyes, she blushed and instead averted her gaze out of the window.

Normally, if he was serious he would probably be beet red, but joking around never changed his facial tint, no matter what it was. '_Just for teasing._' Sasuke reassured himself of his intentions. Hinata tightened her grip on her jacket. '_The way hes looking at me, by Kami, there's no mistaking it!_' second after second, she grew a little more nervous and… excited?

Hinata was looking out of the window examining the crowd, her back facing the bed when she squeaked. Someone's arms… No, Sasuke's arms had wormed around her waist and now he was holding her possessively from behind. Hinata grew slightly tense, why was it so comfortable?

Sasuke smirked, Hinata fit perfectly into his arms despite the fact that he was only a few inches taller than her. "Yo… Hinata…" he whispered quietly into her ear.

"Y-y-y-y-yes..?" his warm breath tickled her skin and she was on the verge of snapping. "I was just wondering…" Sasuke tightened his hold on her and let his head slip and rest on her shoulder. "How do you feel… About all this?" he seemed to be cool and collected, but in reality he was trying not to fall down and laugh his heart out at her reaction.

"W-w-what do y-you mean?" she asked him, she glanced sideways as his head rested on her shoulder. '_I like Sasuke and everything but this is j-just too sudden!_' "Why… Traveling with me of course." he responded nonchalantly. Hinata took a moment to answer, she couldn't think straight at all. "I-I-I think that it w-was worth i-it." she stuttered out hesitantly. It was true, she really did think that, but saying that _**now**_ may have been a bad idea. "Is that so?" he smirked while still looking out the window. It was then and there he increased it to another level, he began implanting soft kisses on Hinata's neck. Hinata gasped at this, but did nothing to stop him.

" Hinata, do you think..-"

Hinata turned her head to glance at her right shoulder, which still bore the weight of Sasuke's head.

"-that maybe we can be more than just friends someday…?"

Hinata felt the tint in her cheek rise to its highest point possible. '_Why, why Kami why!? Why did he ask this now?_' The room was filled with silence broken with the occasional kiss noise as Sasuke mentally laughed. '_I must be sick for doing this, but I cant help it…_ _I guess I had better turn this around before she freaks._'

"Hina-" Sasuke began.

"Yes… I-I… do think so."

* * *

Evil Laugh Ill put an end for now, R&R. As usual this was my **_first_** scene of this... type.

_**Leox07Gaara : Just plain Taijutsu actually.**_


	15. 15 Newcomer

15. Newcomer

For the first time in his life, Sasuke Uchiha was dumbstruck. His kisses stopped abruptly as his mind struggled to comprehend what the shy girl he held in his arms just said. '_Yes… I-I… do think so._' for a minute he simply stood there. His head on her shoulder, arms around her waist, and staring at her neck. Hinata's nervousness was evaporating quickly. '_There… I said it… I said it…_' she waited patiently for his reply. Obviously he had been expecting her to resist slightly.

Hinata took his arms and wrapped them around her more tightly, laying her head back and sighing. She didn't notice that he was stunned. '_Didn't see that coming…_' Sasuke felt his hands being wrapped tighter around Hinata's waist without his command, instead being guided by Hinata herself. He felt himself blush, this was no longer a joke. '_Its serious now, she said it herself.'_

The Ex-Hyuuga heiress was growing puzzled by his overall cease of action. Reaching up with one hand, she caressed the opposite side of his cheek. '_I might regret this, but it's the only way to make sure._'

"S-Sasuke-kun?" she whispered into his ear, to which he glanced up and met her eyes for a brief moment.

"Yes..?" he tried his best to keep his cool.

"W-would you please… c-continue?" she blushed and averted her eyes letting shy smile surface as well.

'_Holy crap… She's not kidding at all!_' Sasuke gaped slightly, but quickly regained his composure before she could notice. "Hn…Of course." he resumed kissing her neck slightly. His head was pounding now, and his heartbeat was stepping up the speed-o-meter. Sasuke began to notice something strange, she wasn't nervous at all, but he was, and second, was the room temperature rising? It was becoming unbearably hot for him. He stopped momentarily to examine Hinata, and she turned to face him and smiled shyly. Still beet red, but not very nervous. '_The room temperature isn't rising… Its me!_' Sasuke was beginning to panic.

Hinata decided to take a chance. Releasing herself from his grip, she turned her body to face him. Now he stood up straight and both were looking each other in the eye. .Hinata hugged him, softly burying her head into his shoulder. '_This… Is nice…_' she smiled softly. There was absolutely no noise except for the faint moving of the crowd outside of the inn. Before Sasuke could catch himself, he found his arms around her again.

There was a soft rapping on the door. Sasuke caught himself from sighing. _'It must be the room service._' he was actually irritated. Even if he was nervous, no one ever said he wanted it to end. He tried to move to the door, but Hinata wouldn't let him go. He glanced down at her to see her staring up at him with wide lavender eyes. "What's… Wrong?" he asked, trying to sound casual as usual. He must have slipped up because she giggled. '_Is Sasuke-kun nervous? I thought he wanted this to happen._' they didn't need room service anyway. Sure enough, after a few moments the rapping stopped and the person presumably went away.

Sasuke took one last glance at the door before redirecting his dark coal eyes to her lavender. Hinata began to turn beet red ever so slowly. Her heart thumped faster. Sasuke began to turn red also, and his heart met her pace. '_Why… Why the hell am I so nervous?_' he tried to shake his head, but his head would not obey his mind's commands. Slowly, he found himself leaning forward. His entire body was rigid, and his knees were slightly shaky. Hinata was barely any different, in fact she was worse off.

Hinata's heart thumped loudly in her ears as she moved up to meet him. The heat in the room was almost unbearable.

It was a soft brushing kiss. Lasting for 5 seconds, they parted shakily, it was shallow, but good. Good enough for another one perhaps? Sasuke leaned forward again and captured her lips once more. It was no brushing kiss, not at all. Hinata felt as if she caught fire, he was burning! Their lips formed a solid connection as the Ex-Hyuuga heiress closed her eyes to enjoy the heat from Sasuke. Hinata's hands wormed their way around Sasuke's neck as he closed his eyes and his arms tightened around her waist.

The time passed them up… 10 seconds… 20 seconds… 30 seconds… 1 minute…

Hinata and Sasuke finally broke apart to take a breath. 1 minute and 14 seconds, _**not bad**_. Hinata smiled and blushed as she leaned on Sasuke again. "T-t-that was my second…" she whispered shyly. Sasuke frowned jealously, "Hn, what bastard was the first?"

He looked down and met her eyes once more as she looked up at him again. "That bastard was you, just now, the other one was a second kiss right?" she smiled and he smirked "Hn" . Suddenly his face went slightly sour. '_Its too bad that wasn't my first… Damn you Naruto-baka… I still haven't forgotten about that freak accident back at the academy._' but then he shrugged. '_It was an accident though… I guess I can toss that out the window._'

Hinata frowned when his face went sour and then he shrugged. "Humph… Has Sasuke-kun not found that satisfactory?" Sasuke snapped back to reality and he began to panic. "W-what? No…No it was great! I was just thinking about someth-" he was cut off as Hinata kissed him again. Another 30 seconds and he smirked as she disconnected from him. "Yeah… I think Ill be fine."

Sasuke smirked and kissed her on the forehead. After a mini argument, Hinata decided she could let him go to wash up. She sat happily on a chair in front of the window, humming to herself, and blushing thinking about the recent events. Steam came out from under the bathroom door, despite the fact that Sasuke Uchiha was drowning himself in ice cold water. '_Damn, is it because of all the Fire Style jutsu I know?_'

He dressed himself in one of the inn's set of clothes, a black shirt and white pants made of regular fabric, he didn't want to change into sleeping clothes yet. Finding a small chute in the room that a note nearby said was for laundry, Sasuke slid his old clothes down, he cringed for a moment when he realized he left a kunai in one of the pockets but decided that it wouldn't cause anything to blow up so it would be fine… '_At least I hope so.._'. Sasuke frowned slightly as he examined his outfit '_This thing needs a symbol._' he never wore anything that didn't somehow indicate that he was of Uchiha blood in some way.

Re-tying his headband over his forehead, he walked out to find Hinata's jacket on the bed and Hinata herself turning from her chair next to the window to smile at him. "Yo, you're turn to wash up." she nodded and walked over to the bathroom, not missing the chance to give him a peck on the cheek before going in. '_Hn, not so shy anymore huh?_'

Sasuke glanced at their room clock and its hands indicated 10:41 p.m.. '_I better let a bit more time pass by before I proceed outside to train._'

It would have been very bad after all, should he accidentally kill someone with his techniques without noticing it. He smirked imagining the newspaper '_Local man stabbed and fried by flying object!_'

Sasuke picked up Samui Kaji's pouch of extensions next to the blade and began to analyze them thoroughly. In the hollow space of each extension was a metal bar that ran through the middle. Presumably to help lock it in place. That was the key to his technique. Sasuke smirked again, '_Just need a little time._'

Hinata came out of the bathroom in a silky white shirt, with a structure and style similar to what Tenten usually wore. With silk navy blue pants to add to it, there were intricate patterns of what appeared to be vines and flowers sowed into the clothing. Sasuke suddenly felt ashamed and outclassed. They both felt a little awkward now, there was only one bed after all. It was small too, Sasuke wasn't paying attention to what he was renting out, thinking only about his new jutsu. As a result he got a small one bed room with a nice view of the local area. At least it was cheap.

Sasuke tried to appear casual and nonchalant, he got up and began to look around at what they were provided with. Tea, eating utensils, a few empty boxes for whatever they wanted to store temporarily.. He glanced into one of the nightstands and slammed it shut immediately. '_Do __**not **__go in there!_' he turned a beet red, and Hinata, realizing what it was about, turned red also, just twice as fast. He sighed. "Whatever.. You just get some sleep…" he muttered, standing up and fastening Samui Kaji over his back.

Hinata cocked her head sideways as she sat on the bed. "Where are you going?" she watched and then giggled as he grunted trying to untangle a part of his shirt that snagged on Samui Kaji's strap buckle, midway on his chest. "Hn… I'm going to get in a little training before calling it a night.." he looked up from his now wrinkled but free shirt and smirked. Hinata nodded as he made his way around the bed, and wrapped one arm around her and pecked her forehead. "Just give me an hour, I'll be back."

With that, he made his way out of the room and proceeded downstairs. The hotel was pretty dark now, most people were asleep, only occasionally did he find someone roaming around. Sasuke made his way out into the open space in the center of the hotel. He looked left and then right. It was a bare area, circular and completely flat. A few seconds of measuring, and he deducted that there was a radius of 40 meters at least.

'_More than I'll need…_'

Sasuke took out the extra extensions in the pouch at his waist and carefully examined each one of them. The hollow space was just big enough for him to stick his finger into, and the little bar that normally assisted in locking the extension in place was sturdy but small. '_Just perfect._' he smirked. A half moon shone brightly in the sky, along with plenty of lanterns all along the walls made for no problem seeing.

Sasuke then reached into his second pouch on the opposite side of his waist, and drew out the remains of his metal wiring. '_About 100 feet of wiring… Should be enough._' there was nothing else in his pouch but the wire, since it was a tight fit anyways. It was an exceptionally strong wiring, the manager at the ninja tools shop had told him it was made of a lightweight but strong metal, allowing almost infinite malleability.

He tied a segment to each of his fingers on his left hand. 20 feet each. After doing so, he took the ends of each metal wiring and tied those to the metal bars that ran through the center of each hollow blade extension. Now he had a projectile weapon that was retractable, only thing was that its distance was severely limited as far as projectiles were concerned. '_Its too bad that's not what I'm aiming for though…_'

Sasuke moved to stand up a log that was laying on its side in the middle of the clearing. It would make a reasonable target.

2 miles out of town, on a rocky cliff that faced the exposed side of the village sat a young shinobi. He stood with his arms crossed overlooking the city, another two shinobi walked up next to him. Due to recent conversations between Konoha and other nations ; their nation received the plea that the Hyuuga heiress and Uchiha heir be retrieved. They were '_too genetically valuable to lose at this point in time'_

"So, we going in or what?" the female spoke.

"Of course, they're bound to be in there somewhere." a rough male voice answered her.

The head shinobi didn't say anything as his older siblings spoke behind him. The owner of the female voice then tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Are you ready to go… Gaara?"


	16. 16 Dancing Leaves and Deadly Sand

16. Dancing Leaves and Deadly Sand

Sasuke sat down on a small couch inside the inn to rest as he finished his nightly training. He had made a disastrous effect on the log, and it pretty much no longer existed. The only problem was that he woke several people, and had to dash out of sight before he was spotted and kicked out of the inn along with Hinata. Sasuke heard footsteps all around the building as mad guests stormed about to find out why the hell thousands of birds were suddenly chirping not so long ago.

Sasuke smirked and ever so casually headed up back to his room.

Unlocking and opening the door, he went inside to find that Hinata had not been disturbed by the ruckus, and lay peacefully on the bed. After sliding down all of his equipment onto the floor ever so softly, Sasuke moved to sit on the opposite side of the small bed. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sleeping girl before him. Deciding that changing would be pointless, seeing as how the clothes he was already in were comfortable enough, he laid down next to her. For 10 minutes he lay there, simply staring at Hinata.

'_She's… an angel…_' he smirked, before closing his eyes and letting sleep take him.

The sun rose to signal the new day as Hinata woke. Her eyes immediately fell onto a sleeping Sasuke right next to her. She yawned slightly and smiled softly, and without thinking twice, she moved one of her hands to caress his cheek. He frowned slightly at first but immediately returned to normal as his bodily senses deemed it unworthy to wake up for. Hinata smiled '_I wonder what it would take to wake him up…_'

Hinata scooted closer to him and continued to caress his facial features, she then began kissing his neck, softly at first, and then she sped up. Sasuke was awake now, but too tired to move. Or so she thought.

Sasuke's eyes shot open and his hand immediately moved around Hinata's head. Instantly he captured her lips without a second thought. Her eyes widened in surprise but quickly returned to normal as his warmth flooded her senses.

They broke apart panting and he smirked "There, I'm awake now, happy?" she nodded dreamily and closed her eyes, a shy smile on her face. Sasuke rolled out of the bed and went to check on his equipment. The door was locked, but that didn't mean someone couldn't have gotten in to steal something.

Hinata laid back for a moment, then grudgingly rolled out of bed. "Sasuke-kun-" he turned to face her "- what are we going to do now?" she asked while making her way to the bathroom. Sasuke grunted, "I paid for two nights, so well spend today gathering info and training, once were done, well take our next step towards the Land of Waves." he turned back to resume checking their belongings. Hinata nodded and stepped into the bathroom. Soon Sasuke could hear the bath waters running, and small amounts of steam were slowly pouring out of the bottom of the door. He sighed as he confirmed everything to be where he last left it. Sasuke then proceeded to the window to stare out into the lively town before him.

Many people were walking around and doing all sorts of things. Most of what he saw were school children. All of whom seemed to between 7 to possibly 17 years of age. '_This small place seems to have its educational values near the top._'

After a moment of watching, he felt the desire to actually go outside, to feel the warm sun and the fresh air. Sasuke went outside without saying anything, if Hinata wanted to know where he was, the Byakugan was the tool for that. He took one step outside and then immediately thought twice. '_No wait… She'll get upset if she has to find me with a bloodline limit… I shouldn't let that happen._' his face grimaced as he thought of the possible consequences. '_Maybe no talking… The face of guilt…?_' Sasuke prepared a note and left it on the bed. After making sure it wouldn't be taken away by a gust through a crack anywhere, he headed outside.

Sasuke sat on a bench, closed his eyes, and embraced the sun's rays. He smirked at the feeling, but quickly frowned as he heard the tell-tale giggles of approaching wanna-be-fangirls. The strange part was, they weren't coming closer… Not getting louder. '_Tch, its better that way._' still, curiosity got the better hold of him, and he popped one eye towards the commotion.

In the middle of a crowd of girls, was a redhead, pretty good looking, Sasuke had to admit… '_He looks familiar…_' the redhead turned his face a little, and the mark on his forehead was exposed to Sasuke's line of sight.

_Love_

'_Holy crap…_' it was painfully clear now. In the middle of a crowd of annoying fan girls, stood Sabaku no Gaara, in all his glory. Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life and shook in pure rage. '_You… You tried to kill them… You tried to take my comrades from me… The only thing I had left and you tried to take it away!_' his hands clenched in rage and his entire body began shaking with anticipation. Sasuke stood up from the bench, Gaara had not yet seen him. Undoubtedly Gaara must have been sent here for them, why else? The memory of their battle in the Hidden Leaf Forest, and with it a few keywords that he said at the time, came back in a flash.

"_I __**never**__ want to see my __**precious**__ comrades __**die**__ in front of me again."_

Gaara brought with him, the feeling of death, maybe less now, but no different from the last time they met.

Now, with something more precious then the world to protect waiting simply in the inn behind him, Sasuke wasn't sure how to deal with the possible threat.

The redhead was trying to fight his way out of the crowd without killing anyone, and thus was having a hard time. 'There's no way he would be here alone though.' Gaara may be strong, but sending him in solo would still be a bad idea. Sasuke looked around but couldn't find anyone or anything that resembled Sunagakure shinobi. '_Damn.. They're around here somewhere, I know it!_' Sasuke frowned and cautiously headed back into the inn, determined to avoid Gaara's sight and those of suspicious passerby. '_I need to grab Hinata and get the hell out of here._'

Sasuke wanted to fight so bad, but he wouldn't risk it with the possibility of enemy reinforcement in close proximity. He stepped into the inn and once he was away from any window, he broke into a sprint straight towards their room.

Hinata had just finished dressing, and she stepped out of the bathroom, as soon as she was about to read the note, strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

She looked behind to see Sasuke, but his face was packed with mixed emotion. "S-Sasuke?"

"Hinata, we have to go, we have a Sunagakure search party on our tail." he whispered quickly into her ear.

"W-What? S-Sunagakure?" she was confused. '_When did they become involved?_'

Sasuke didn't give her much time to ponder on the thought "Among them is Gaara, the redhead from the exams!" Hinata's eyes widened. She remembered him perfectly, how he slaughtered those Hidden Rain ninja so easily.

It came back before her eyes… The rain of blood… Hinata began to shiver almost uncontrollably '_He almost killed me then too!_' despite all her mental protests, her brain conjured up the image of her trapped in the sand… helpless… whose fate was left in the control of a homicidal monster.

"N-No…No!" Hinata yelped and began to instantly struggle against Sasuke, her mind was lost for now.

Sasuke felt fear grip him as Hinata began to lose control of herself. '_Damn it! Why now?_' he tightened his grip on her waist and quietly whispered into her ear.

"Nothing will happen to you. You will be safe. I wont let anyone hurt you." he whispered and winced as she continued to struggle against him yelping unintelligible cries. Something along the lines of "I wont die… Not that way!" it was at that instant that he realized Gaara had done something, or tried to, back then.

'_That bastard! He'll pay for this!_'

"Hinata!" he said, his voice was surrounded with an air of command. Hinata stopped at the sound of his voice and her wide lavender eyes turned to face him.

"Calm down, well find a way out, leave everything to me…. Okay?" he said, this time softly, more intimately and she nodded slowly. Hinata ceased her trembling after a moment, and then continued to take deep breaths '_Its okay… I'm not alone… I'm not weak…_'

Sasuke watched her and nodded feeling satisfied in her newfound confidence… her trust in him.

Suddenly a hissing sound could be heard, and Sasuke turned his head from side to side, trying to find its source. There in the corner of the room, was an Eye of Sand.

"Damn! We have to go Hinata, now!" he grabbed her arm and made a move for the window, in an instant he jumped from the second floor and landed on the ground, Hinata right next to him. Still holding her arm, he dashed into the crowd without hesitation.

'We need to lose him as fast as possible… But how?' Sasuke's face grimaced, moving through the crowd would only get them so far, their personal features were unique compared to those around them, so sorting them out would be easy for an Academy Student.

Gaara stood up and dashed towards the crowd, pinging his headset as to let Kankuro and Temari know of his discovery. '_This will be easy…_' he smirked as his sand etched across the ground ahead of him, enough to hold someone down, yet spread out enough to be invisible to one's eye.

Temari and Kankuro bolted towards Gaara's last radio signal, which happen to be the opposite direction of which they were originally headed…

Sasuke could see the end of buildings just up ahead, and his faced grimaced even more, once they left they would be out in the open and vulnerable to pursuit. They would have to immediately dive into the woods, which would probably slow them down. '_Better than running around in plain sight…_' he determined, dragging an almost panting Hinata along with him. "Come on Hinata, sorry but you're going to have to bear with me." he said, as they moved on, slowing his pace only so that she could hear him. She panted heavily but nodded. Sasuke eyed her with a concerned look but quickly resumed the task of escape.

"Its this way…" Gaara scolded his siblings as they attempted to take a wrong turn into an abandoned alley. They stopped trying to dash ahead and simply walked behind Gaara, who was in no hurry at all. '_My Third eye can be controlled from a distance, so I should be able to keep sight of them._' Kankuro was getting angry, he had built up anticipation for a fight with Sasuke for awhile now. He could still remember getting pegged with a rock back at Konohagakure, and he was still mad about it.

Gaara could see the gate they took to get out, he stepped out and began to run. It didn't matter how far they got, Shukaku's energy supply would allow Gaara to chase them for a week without stopping, but his Third Eye could only be controlled at so far a distance, and he was starting to lose it. Temari sighed and Kankuro bit back a groan of annoyance. '_Are they __**that **__far already?_'

Sasuke ducked behind a fallen log clutching Hinata protectively close to him. His Sharingan eyes swept their perimeter but couldn't see anything strange. '_Then what is this annoying piece of chakra at the edge of my sense?_' Hinata had her eyes halfway closed and she was leaning on him heavily. Her breathing was somewhat close to normal now. That was all Sasuke needed to know.

"You alright?" His eyes reverted to normal and he held her chin up to examine her face. "Y-yes, I'll be fine." she whispered, to which he nodded. They were in a little clearing, but with plenty of bushes around their fallen log, they would be concealed from the view of other things. Sasuke wasn't sure if that was a good thing though. '_I cant see out, so how do I know they cant see in?_' he frowned thoughtfully but decided to simply rest for now.

20 minutes later, a faint hissing sound could be heard. Sasuke cracked his eyes open, Hinata was already scanning the area with Byakugan to identify the source. Her facial features panicked for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure and yelled out "Its his sand!"

Sasuke grabbed Hinata and dove out of their cover, just as a tidal wave of sand crashed onto the log, utterly destroying it, and the bushes around it. The trees surrounding the clearing hustled in response to the wind created by the force. The birds ceased their chirping. Insects stopped buzzing. All animals fled.

"Ive found you…" a rough voice pierced the sudden silence. Sabaku no Gaara stepped out from under the shadow of a large oak tree. Behind him were Kankuro and Temari. A mixture of leaves and sand flowed around them in the wind.

"Tch…" Sasuke wasted no time, and a trio of kunai left his pouch and flew from his hand. Sand came up in front of the enemy as a shield and the kunai buried themselves into it harmlessly. The indestructible shield absorbed the kunai, and crushed them under its immense pressure. Hinata gulped at the sight.

"Is that all you've got…?" Gaara grinned evilly, his sand spread out to form a circle around the entire battlefield. "This battle is mine, you are not to interfere…" he glanced back at his siblings, to which they nodded.

Sasuke looked back at Hinata and gently reassured her with a hand on her shoulder. "Stay here… Ill be right back… I promise you." he pecked her forehead and she watched him go shakily.

Gaara Sabaku and Sasuke Uchiha stood in the center of the clearing. Sharingan red against emerald green eyes. There was a deafening silence… '_I __**never **__want to see my __**precious**__ comrades __**die**__ in front of me again._'

There was a sound of sliding steel as Sasuke slowly pulled Samui Kaji from his shoulder. "You're mine!" Sasuke growled, and in a blink of an eye he disappeared from sight. Gaara foresaw the attack and his sand jumped to conceal his back as Samui Kaji stabbed towards his neck from behind. The blade got caught, but Sasuke ran his chakra throughout its conducting steel and he pulled it free easily. Just before the sand caught his leg, Sasuke vanished again.

Gaara stood his ground, and turned his head to search for him. There was nothing to be seen. It was as if he simply vanished. His sand came up instinctively as a whistling sound cut through the air, '_Kunai knives…_'

2 knives hit the sand wall as it rearranged it self to better defend its master. A hissing noise suddenly erupted from the other side of the sand, but Gaara couldn't see what was going on. One of the knives exploded, an explosive tag had been tied around its hilt. The sand was blown out of the way temporarily, and through the small gap came a shuriken star, it hit Gaara dead on, but his sand armor prevented penetration. The armor cracked slightly and the shuriken dropped to the floor.

Sasuke watched from his hidden position in the surrounding forest. His Sharingan allowed for perfection of aim from a long distance, so he could circle the perimeter and attack from out of range as long as his weaponry supplies allowed him to do so. '_Which they wont much longer._' he growled silently as he grasped for his next kunai. He hesitated and slipped it back into the pouch. Instead he pulled out the metal wiring from last night's training…

Gaara waited for the next assault, but nothing happened. Hinata sat a dozen meters away from him, trembling at his presence. His siblings were leaning up against the same tree, doing nothing, just as he told them to. Slowly, the sounds of nature resumed.

Half a dozen dark blades emerged from a bush not far from him, the sand reacted and shielded him from the threat, but to no avail. The blades shattered through the sand wall. Something was feeding the blades chakra, creating armor piercing projectiles that sliced through his Earthen defenses and left him with several bleeding wounds. "Rrgh!" he growled as the pain registered on his nervous system. He was about to crush the projectiles with sand when they suddenly retracted from the holes they made. '_What?_'

Sasuke silently chuckled from his cover as he reeled his weapons back in. Samui Kaji was a conductor of chakra, and so was the special wiring he acquired. As long as he had a hold on either one, he could send his chakra to the blades to pierce regular defenses with ease.

'_Its time to test the technique…_' he grinned. Sasuke formed several hand seals and directed one of his palms to face the ground, the other grasped his wrist.

"_Chidori: One thousand birds!"_

Blue-white sapphire electricity shot from his hand, suddenly the noises of nature were in an uproar, as animals scurried from the terrifying call of so many birds all in one spot. Sasuke shot his arm forward and the blades tied to his fingers reacted immediately, springing towards their target.

Electricity shot down the metal wiring and built on the multiple blades, Sasuke then performed one-handed sign weaving to complete the rest of his technique. Soon a second Chidori formed in his left hand and each and every single blade bound to him was alight. Half a dozen balls of flying death were circling a stunned Gaara as the electricity built up on the blades continuously. Sasuke leapt from his cover and was a dozen meters high over Gaara. "Its over!" with a sweep of his arms, each and every single projectile thrashed towards his enemy.

"_Soufenhasen Chidori Nagashi: Binding Chidori Current!"_

Gaara only had enough time to encase himself in the greatest amount of sand he could muster, crushing rocks below him to create more as he needed. His chakra sensory spiked as he felt the blades penetrate the sphere. Soon his dark little world in the center of the very definition of 'protection' was alight with blue-white light. Gaara cried out in pain.

The leaves flew in a flurry around the ruined sand.

* * *

_**A/N: ZOMG!! Sorry I took so long, school is freaking driving me insane over here!**_


	17. 17 Demons Monsters

17. Demons… Monsters…

"Rrraaggghhhh!" Gaara cried out as his senses flooded with pain. The most unbelievable feeling of pain.

He panted as he felt his sand drop around him, he was losing control… losing consciousness.

Sasuke landed a dozen meters away, and with a yank, the projectiles which had by now lost their electrical current, darted back to his position. He let them rest on the ground as he waited to see what effect he had on his opponent.

Hinata stood up shakily and moved over to Sasuke, and stood behind him, hugging a kunai close to her chest. The hissing of sand grew louder as the ruined sphere continued to fall apart. Soon Gaara was exposed, bloody and heavily wounded, but alive. "Damn you… Uchiha, Sasuke!" he grasped his side with his left arm. Wincing as he did so, he thrust his right arm in the couple's direction, and a wave of sand crashed onto their former position as they maneuvered around it. "Raagh!" he thrust again and again at the both of them but to no avail.

Temari and Kankuro appeared next to him from thin air, but with a menacing glare, they hesitatingly retreated back to their tree.

Gaara fell onto one knee. Hinata tripped trying to evade a sand wave, but as she was about to be covered, Sasuke slipped around the wave with her in his arms. However, he held her differently than one would hold just any comrade… It was more… intimate. '_Is that why hes so strong too…?_' he remembered Naruto, and his reason for his incredible strength. '_I love them… Without them I would still be in my pit of loneliness…_'

He thrust his arm wildly in an attempt to follow them, but it was useless. He fell onto his stomach as his body lost energy… A wild chuckle appeared from him…

'_Gaara… Why are you so weak..? Do you once more require my power?_'

Gaara winced trying to keep awake, the fatigue was overwhelming, he was losing control… to _**it**_. '_No… Leave me alone!_' he fought it desperately, using sand to close his wounds and cease the blood loss temporarily. After a moment's rest, he stood up shakily. His time in this battle was coming to an end, if he didn't close the battle soon, Shukaku would emerge. He could feel the change coming.

Sasuke stood silently, arms crossed on top of a tree branch not too far out. Hinata stood next to him.

"Are you ready to call it quits Gaara?" he jumped down and landed perfectly straight. His arm now held a re-assembled Samui Kaji. He flew into a combat ready stance as a loud chuckle escaped from the wounded Sunagakure shinobi. "Its nowhere near over!" Gaara looked up and revealed to Sasuke, half of his face resembled the Shukaku demon. He laughed menacingly as he thrust both his arms to them. Sasuke jumped off to the side, and after checking to make sure Hinata was unharmed, resumed his assault with shuriken throwing stars. Jumping from side to side, tossing one or two at a time.

Each and every single one of them were caught and buried. Gaara found an opening and his sand lunged not at Sasuke… but at Hinata. Caught off guard, she yelped as the solid wall hit her with such force, she spiraled back into a boulder. It cracked as she impacted and Sasuke's face twisted in horror. "Hinata!"

Throwing a pair of explosive kunai to distract Gaara, he dashed to her aid. Hinata lied at the base of the cracked stone, unmoving. "Hinata..!" he crouched down next to her and held her in his arms. He was too scared to check her pulse. '_This… cant be happening… Hinata!_'

The time they spent together flashed in front of his eyes.

"_Sasuke-kun?" Hinata chimed as she sat next to him in Ichiraku. Sasuke looked up from his bowl. He hadn't been expecting anyone out around 11 p.m. but Ichiraku was generally opened late on weekends. He always came at this hour to avoid being seen eating… ramen._

"_Hn? What are you doing out this late?" he asked casually, his eyes closed as he returned to his bowl. Ayame, the daughter and assistant of the Ichiraku owner looked at them with a renewed interest instead of the usual tired look. '_Sasuke and Hinata? Friends? Who would've thought…_' Hinata 's cheerful attitude was replaced with sorrow as she was reminded of the reason why exactly she was outside this late. "Well… Ive been having a lot of family trouble… Father feels ashamed of me, Hanabi-chan is ashamed of me… Neji… Neji-niisan still hates me…" Sasuke looked up at her. "I didn't really know what to do when I heard them all arguing about… what to do with me…" she finished_

_Sasuke sighed. "You have not yet showed the results of training yet have you?" he asked, to which she shook her head. "No… I was hoping to keep it secret for a little longer… There's not telling how Father might react to me being around you!"_

_She tried to change the subject, right out of the blue, and Sasuke decided that it would be wise to not persist in the matter anyways. That night they spoke of different herbs, fighting techniques… and each other._

Her eyes were closed, and from her feel, she may have broken a bone or two. Sasuke shook with fear, and then rage. Gaara's voice sounded behind him. "Raaaaghh!" a column of sand rushed at Sasuke's back, but stopped dead in its tracks before scattering all over the area and returning to its form as a protective wall. '_How…? What's going on?_' the possessed Gaara ceased his motions in an attempt to see what was happening.

Something was going on, for a split second, Gaara could have sworn that he saw a purplish flame erupt from Sasuke's body. It waved in the air for a split second, but disappeared again. Shukaku's confidence flooded him and beckoned him to taunt the Uchiha, who was kneeling on both of his knees in front of an either dead or unconscious Hyuuga heiress. "What's the matter? Were you too weak to protect her?"

The words rang in Sasuke's head… '_Too weak… Not enough strength… no __**power**__._'

_Foolish little brother… If you wish to kill me, settle for… hating me._

_Hate me, and live like the coward you are… _

_Clinging to life… without honor!_

"Shut up…" Sasuke growled in a low menacing tone. The dark chakra erupted from Sasuke again, the flames consumed his body, but only lashed out an inch away from him. Sasuke's back arched as the small flames roared inside of him.

"**I am an avenger…"**

Sasuke stood up, the flames reappeared and disappeared from his body again.

"**I live for only one thing…**"

Sasuke turned his head to look at Gaara out of the corner of his eye. Gaara froze. Black marks covered the side of his face and arm, and **Three **tomoe swung around a fully matured Sharingan.

"**To see you… Die.**"

The purple flames vanished and were replaced with a swirl of corrupt chakra around his body. Sasuke's voice was full of hatred, of rage, of the intent to kill.

"**You'll pay for this!"**

**A/N: You guys, I'm feeding off of your reviews, while its nice to get a burst at the beginning, I need new people to keep them coming, otherwise my inspiration flushes down the toilet .-.**


	18. 18 To Protect What's Precious

18. To Protect What's Precious

Sasuke turned on his heel at an alarming rate. "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" a ball of fire ejected from his mouth at an unbelievable speed. It lurched toward a stunned Gaara, who had to use his own sand to knock him out of its path.

The fireball sped past and buried itself into the earth. The heat was so intense, so concentrated, that the dirt that touched it smoldered, not even a small flame existed, it was just a huge, smoking crater. Not even the grass directly on its edge was harmed.

The possessed Gaara regained his senses and got to his feet. He was beginning to resemble the Shukaku more and more now, sand clutched to his body and was slowly making him bulkier. His emotions and thoughts were mixing with the demon's now. Control was going beyond his reach…

Gaara was on the other side of the crater, and he looked around trying to configure Sasuke's position.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" A flurry of fireballs lunged forward from the smoke and arched towards Gaara, a wall of sand quickly isolated him from danger as the smoldering balls of death smashed into his defenses. A number of explosions sounded in rapid succession, muffled only by the wall of sand. One, two, four, six, nine, fifteen. It was a relentless assault, as soon as Gaara's explosion count hit 31, they stopped coming. The sand dropped hesitantly, smoking, glowing red from heat.

As soon as it dropped, Gaara initiated his attack blindly into the smoke.

"Kaze: Suna Shuriken!" Wind Style: Sand Shuriken!

A large mound of sand immediately separated itself into smaller parts, and they simultaneously transformed into deadly weapons, in a matter of seconds, 25 sand shuriken flew into the smoke, and impacted on whatever object happened to be in the way. Gaara listened closely, there were the thunks of wood and rock… but no flesh…

"What the hell are you shooting at… fool?"

Gaara spun around to face Sasuke, for the briefest moment, he stared right into his fully matured Sharingan, so full of hate, of bloodlust… of death. He was paralyzed, unable to move.

"You hurt her… the one that is precious to me, more so than the world itself… so now… you must pay… with your blood!"

Sasuke didn't smirk, like he usually would, his anger was too intense for his normal actions. His palms lit up with the faint purple chakra from none-other than the Curse Seal of Heaven.

'_Hyuuga Style Taijutsu!_'

"I wont let you beat me!" Sasuke lashed out over and over, targeting Tenketsu based off of the Sharingan's memory. Undoubtedly he missed a few spots, but what he struck was just enough. Parts of Gaara's body was denied its flow of chakra, and his sand, no longer having anything that magnetized it to him, slowly fell away. Gaara swept his arm and a wave of sand came down on the Uchiha, who jumped away just in time.

Gaara quickly surveyed the effected area, both of his arms and partially his upper torso. Not being able to use chakra in his body to magnetize the sand, he would have to send the chakra out of his body from different areas and hold the sand up to him. That was much more costly.

Shukaku's confidence faded long ago, and was now replaced by frustration and anger on the demon's part. The transformation sped up, particles of sand gathered around Gaara, and added to his body. Soon all of his upper portion held Shukaku's stature. Only the very bottom of his legs remained normal.

The demon raised its bulky arms and, with a high pitched war cry, it swept them both forward. Half a dozen giant pillars of sand rose above ground level and arched towards Sasuke. He jumped out of the way, but they curved to follow him, like worms.

Temari and Kankuro disappeared from the area completely, not wanting to be around for possible area effect attacks. Hinata however, was still laying right where Sasuke had left her.

Sasuke dived to his left as one of the pillars shot straight at him, it missed and impacted itself into the dirt, which exploded on contact. Sasuke's Sharingan gave color to all chakra, and he saw what was happening. The sand was guided by Gaara's chakra, and whenever it hit something, a new surge of chakra would shoot down its length, originating from Shukaku, and once the surge reached the end of the pillar, it would cause an explosion. The already crushed target would be blown to bits… all in a time span of less than three seconds.

'_I cant get hit by that, if it even grazes me, its over!_'

The corrupt Uchiha hit the ground rolling, and with precision timing, he shot a large majority of his chakra to the left side of his body, which happened to be the part in contact with the ground at that moment.

The power surge exploded and made his body leap into the air, a few dozen meters high. Sasuke turned to face Gaara below him…

Then realized up high in the air, **directly** above Gaara was the absolute last place he wanted to be…

4 pillars raced towards him, covering up any possible vector of escape.

"Damn!" Sasuke cursed, and speedily wove handsigns to counter-attack.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" A dozen fireballs fled from his body and smashed into the sand, they slowed down, but not nearly enough.

Sasuke began to lose altitude, and was falling back towards the ground, towards the sand.

'_No! I'm not going to lose… I cant lose! Hinata…_'

* * *

_Sasuke sat next to Hinata in the park. They had been sitting here on the bench, and simply speaking to one another for an hour. Training had ended roughly 2 hours ago, and since the sun was still out, Hinata had dragged him to the park to relax and let other people train._

"… _and so the dobe tossed me one of his Demon Wind Shuriken, that's when I realized his plan." Sasuke spoke nonchalantly, his eyes closed, a completely captivated Hinata with glistening eyes right next to him._

"_I realized the feel of the shuriken was unnatural and when I threw it at Zabuza, he jumped clear over it, only to have it transform into the real Naruto." he opened one eye to check her reaction._

"_Wow! That's amazing!" she expressed, turning away from him for a brief moment to imagine the situation more clearly. The slowly setting sun set her features ablaze, and made him blush slightly. Sasuke shook the feeling away._

"…_That was when Naruto threw a kunai, which forced Zabuza to move away, in doing so, he freed Kakashi. From that point onwards, we left the rest to him…"_

_He stopped talking when he felt someone's presence from the nearby bushes. Glancing over his shoulder, ever so slightly, he noticed Sakura silently fuming at what would could easily be mistaken for a young happy couple. Sasuke smirked, this was the perfect way to get her to leave him alone… Pretend he had a girlfriend!_

_He had tuned himself out and only just noticed that Hinata had been speaking to him when she poked him on the shoulder. He turned to face her again. "Huh?" he looked at her questioningly, which for some reason made her giggle. "I asked if you want to go eat? Its almost dinner." a light blush adorned her innocent face. Sasuke wasn't hungry, but saying 'no' to that face was damn near impossible, even for him. _

"_Sure…" _

'_No… There's no way I'll lose..!'_

* * *

'_**Move aside… I'll handle this**__' _Sasuke flinched, pain shot through his shoulder. The Curse Seal of Heaven wanted control once again.

'_No! This… is my fight!_' he rammed it aside from his consciousness

The curse's marks were pushed back and sealed with sheer willpower, leaving Sasuke to fend for himself.

Gaara was laughing evilly up until he saw an explosion of chakra erupt from his supposedly doomed opponent… instead of purple, it was blue. He gasped as the wave hit him. '_The force of this chakra…!_' Gaara flinched as he struggled to look up at his target once more, '_His chakra wasn't this strong before… How!?_' He froze as his ears registered a new noise… A fierce battle cry.

A determined yell, its noise amplified by surrounding chakra. His Shukaku eyes widened as he saw what was happening. "Raaagh!" it was Sasuke's voice, but deeper, more... Enforced.

Sasuke shot towards the ground with an alarming speed… '_Velocity achieved… Now!' _The 4 sand pillars were rubbing against each other violently, racing to see which one of them would have the honor of killing him. Three handsigns decided the difference of life and death.

Ox…Rabbit…Monkey…

"**Chidori!**" The call of a thousand birds flew towards the surface. Sasuke lashed out his arm, and all four pillars of sand clashed with it head on. They didn't stand a chance… The reinforced Chidori tore through the attack, splitting the giant column of sand down the middle. Gaara realized what had happened, and was trying to move… but he was not fast enough.

Sasuke erupted from the bottom of the pillars of sand, and raced towards the surface, Gaara only managed to barely step out of Death's embrace. Missing by a centimeter and a half. Sasuke tore the back of Gaara's body down the middle, shattering his gourd of sand hidden underneath Shukaku's skin. Blood lanced out from the gaping wound. The Chidori hit the ground with a deafening explosion, all solid objects, whether it be dirt, wood, or stone, was cracked and scattered within a 40 meter radius.

The chirping ceased abruptly as the earth absorbed the blow. A lance of electricity shot up every now and then from Sasuke's arm. The sand above scattered in the wind, no longer held in check by Shukaku.

"**I told you once already… you cant beat me!**" the Uchiha heir sat, kneeling on one knee just behind Gaara, whose sand was that was once attached to his body, was scattered In the wind.

Gaara stood unmoving, and collapsed forward onto his knees. '_Love… it's the only thing… that could have… let him… beat me…_' he shook violently before falling onto his stomach. '_Someday… Uzumaki Naruto…. Uchiha Sasuke… I will be more like you…_'


End file.
